Jeremy Allen, assistant director for fraternity and sorority life, will be stepping down from his position this fall after working at Trinity for just over three years. Allen plans to move to Austin later this semester to practice law full time.

“When I graduated, I went to law school, I practiced for three years, and so this will allow me to pursue that again,” Allen said. “I’m excited to do that. My wife’s company is based out of Austin, we’ve got some family that live in Austin, so it was the right time for us to make the move.”

After graduating from Trinity in 2007, Allen returned as a staff member because of his love for Trinity.

“Being a student here really early on for me felt like home,” Allen said. “You can sense that community and that support that you have from faculty and staff and peers, so I wanted to come back and help create an experience for students, especially in Greek life. I wanted to help make sure that was a positive opportunity and community for this generation of students as well.”

Allen mentioned working with Trinity staff and students as his favorite part about working at Trinity.

“I really enjoy working in that close capacity with students and being able to get to know especially Greek Council and organization presidents, working with them on long-term goals and development that they have,” Allen said. “That’s really the highlight as I look at my tenure here, seeing the growth of students, meeting fantastic driven staff, it’s been a cool thing to see that community come to life in a different way as a professional. It exists as a student, but it’s a different manifestation of that.”

Moving forward, Allen hopes that Greek life will continue to grow and focus on the positive aspects that they bring to campus. Allen also expressed that it will be difficult to leave a great team at Student Involvement.

“The importance of Student Involvement is tremendous, and the staff that we have in those roles really care about students, and they want to see students succeed and be happy,” Allen said. “I know they will continue to do fantastic things on campus, and it’s really a great support system within the team. I’m hopeful that the new assistant director will be able to come in and hit the ground running and be a crucial part of a great team that’s already in place.”

Jamie Thompson, director of Student Involvement, worked with Allen throughout his time on staff at Trinity. Thompson highlighted Allen’s ability to build and sustain trusting relationships with students in the fraternity and sorority community.

“That’s been hugely significant in some of his successes with the community,” Thompson said. “The development of the [Safer Parties Initiative (SPIn)] policy would not have happened if the students weren’t able to engage authentically and realistically about what the off-campus party scene is.”

Thompson also described Allen as someone who cares deeply about Trinity in a number of ways.

“Because he’s an alumnus, because he’s a member of one of our local fraternities, this place is really important to him,” Thompson said. “Every interaction, every job responsibility, he approaches it through the lens of being a part of this community. Trinity isn’t just his employer and this isn’t just where he comes to work. He’s here to better this place and the people here, and you can see that in all he does.”

Thompson expressed her wishes for Allen as he steps down from his role on the Student Involvement staff and goes on to continue practicing law.

“I hope that he gets to find work where he can make a difference and an impact,” Thompson said. “I see the way that he interacts with students and that he loves this place, so I hope he finds something different but a place that gets him excited. I hope he finds a team as awesome as Student Involvement. We have surely enjoyed and appreciated him being on our team. He’s brought an element that has been incredibly helpful and fun and creative and just been a good friend to all of us. We’ll miss him a lot, but I hope he finds something that is equally as rewarding as this role has been for him.”

Greek Council shared the following statement about Allen’s departure:

“Since getting elected to Greek Council in November, we have all spent countless hours under the guidance of Jeremy Allen. He has taught us valuable leadership skills, and we all consider him to be a great mentor. In addition to the impact Jeremy has had on us personally, he has also been a wonderful advocate for Greek life at Trinity, most notably through the creation of SPIn, encouragement of Greek leadership round-tables and overall management and support of Greek life at Trinity. Jeremy genuinely cares about the students on campus and wants to see success in all areas of their lives. Although we are all sad to see him go, we look forward to seeing where this next step in his life takes him.”

A search committee is currently looking for a new assistant director in Student Involvement with a goal of finding a new hire by the end of the semester. Allen will be returning to campus next semester to teach in the political science department as an adjunct professor.