Roxie Patton, the former director of LGBTQ Affairs, intended to stay at their job for five years.
After about six months with UF’s Multicultural and Diversity Affairs, Patton said they realized it wasn’t the right fit for them. Patton, who prefers they/them pronouns but also uses she/hers pronouns, will move to Virginia for a job at the College of William and Mary in March.
Patton said they’ll start March 6 as the association director in the Center for Student Diversity Services. Their last day as LGBTQ+ director was Friday, and Monday, students gathered in the LGBTQ Affairs office for Patton’s goodbye party.
“I was seeking a different working environment,” Patton said. “In this field, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you anticipate them to work out, and it’s pretty normal. It just ultimately didn’t fit with the ideals of where I wanted to go.”
Patton said they felt bittersweet leaving UF, but are excited to begin the new job at William and Mary, which is a smaller campus with an integrated approach to diversity.
“They have a strong commitment to working on intersectional diversity, so getting more out of identity politics and working more on dismantling systems of oppression,” Patton said.
Gigi Bermudez, a 24-year-old UF alumna who graduated May 2016, sat in on Patton’s presentation when she was a prospective hire. Bermudez said Patton had good ideas for the department and is sad to see them go.
“The most effective thing I could say about Roxie is she’s a white queer woman who just gets it,” Bermudez said.
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Roxie Patton
