New Directors for Career Services/Alumni Relations & Student Services Join BUSSW
This summer, Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) welcomes two new directors to its administrative team: Dana Benton as director of career services and alumni/external relations, and Junior Peña as director of student services for the Charles River Campus.
Dana Benton steps into a newly created position initiated by Dean Barbara Jones that serves students, alumni, and the wider school and external community. A licensed mental health professional and seasoned administrator in educational institutions, she holds an MSW from Smith College and Ed.M. in Risk & Prevention Programming from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has over 15 years of experience in various clinical settings, specializing in developmental disorders, grief, loss, and trauma.
Prior to joining BUSSW in June, Benton served as the director of school culture and climate at Foxborough Regional Charter School system where she oversaw policies, programming, and budget development for the Department of Culture and Climate. She is also an active leader in multiple community groups, including the Brockton Area Branch of the NAACP and the Greater Boston Association of Black Social Workers (GBABSW) where she was recently appointed to an executive leadership and national delegate role. She also maintains a private practice focused on adult mental health.
Junior Peña joined BUSSW in July in a role dedicated to the success and well-being of BUSSW students at the University’s Charles River Campus. He was the director for student diversity, equity and belonging at Fitchburg State University, where he collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to develop cross-cultural experiences for students. He founded the Center for Justice and Liberation at Salem State University, and while at the University of Miami, created the inaugural Students of Color Symposium. He holds a master’s degree in higher education from Florida State University.
Benton and Peña’s arrival at BUSSW follows a year rich with new talent and transitions, including Barbara Jones who was appointed dean of the school last summer, new tenure-track faculty members, and new leadership roles for longtime faculty. Together they will steward the school forward as it works towards its strategic plan and its core purpose: Dismantle injustice, liberate possibilities.