Matthew Weekley, assistant dean of students and Title IX director, announced his departure from Wayne State College last week. His last day will be October 14.

Weekley worked for Wayne State for the past six years and has held many titles. He spent his first five years as the director of Residence Life and assistant dean of students, overseeing residence life, the campus judicial system and WALK. Starting in fall 2015, Weekley transitioned into his current position as Title IX coordinator, overseeing Title IX compliance and division assessment.

Weekley said his reason for moving on from Wayne was simply a matter of time.

“You know when it begins to become your time,” he said. “I decided to go ahead and try a new adventure for me and my family.”

Weekley and his family will be relocating to Chicago, where he will be the director of Residence Life at Concordia University. There he will oversee Residence Life, the campus judicial system and division assessment, similar to his current role at Wayne State.

Weekley said his six years in Wayne have been an honor. His favorite part about his time here is the community.

“It’s heartbreaking for me to leave,” he said. “I think Wayne has a tremendous community. The students are the force behind it…they’re so genuine and real and have a very earnest excitement for what they do.”

Weekley cares so deeply for the students at Wayne State College that he created programs such as the Wildcat Academy of Leadership and Knowledge (WALK) to help them become the strong leaders he knew they could be.

“The students have such a bright and wonderful energy here, and it’s always exciting to see them come onto campus ready to get started and watch them flourish,” Weekley said.

The spirit behind WALK, according to Weekley, was to bring a wide variety of students together in a peer education environment and teach them how to be leaders and leave an impact on the campus.

His relationship with students is different than expected from a staff member he is on a first name basis with most of the students he runs into. He appreciates that he is seen as a person by students, not just as an administrator.

“I love that I can walk around campus and when students see me, they can call me out by name,” Weekley said. “They get past the title and just know me as Matt.”

It’s not only students who have grown fond of Weekley. His colleague, Lexi Neemann, assistant director of Residence Life, said that he has had a tremendous impact on her time in Wayne.

“I had never met someone who put so much passion and heart into their work,” said Neemann. “Matt is truly devoted to giving students the best experience possible, he is truly student driven.”

She also expressed extreme gratitude for his work and notes that his encouraging ways will be ingrained into Wayne State for a long time.

“I know that his stories, philosophical statements, and ‘Matt-erisms’ will live on through so many people, and the impact that he leaves behind is irreplaceable,” said Neemann. “On behalf of so many people, I want to thank Matt for giving us seven years of his life, the WALK program, constant support and so much transparency.”

As for wisdom Weekley hopes to leave behind, he notes one thing in particular: cherishing the unique environment that students and staff have at Wayne.

“I think Wayne State College has something special and it really comes down to the personal engagement,” Weekley said. “I hope that students cherish that opportunity and understand that there are staff members that are looking out for their best interests, but also the staff knows too that, ‘Hey, there are things we can learn from students too’ even though we are experts in our craft.”
In a final testament to his time at Wayne State College, Weekley highlights what he finds to be the most exceptional piece of Wayne State.

“I hope that people continue to cherish the community they have because at other institutions it’s very easy to become a number, and at Wayne State College that isn’t the case.”