Dr. Sylvia Washington B.S. '16, MSE '17

Sylvia C. Washington named 2025 UW-Whitewater Outstanding Recent Alumna  

Written by Dave Fidlin | Photos by Craig Schreiner and submitted

Sylvia C. Washington might be hundreds of miles away from her home state, strategizing and striving to bring to the forefront solutions through a diversity equity and inclusion lens. But her foundational experiences at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater are always top of mind.

Since August 2023, Dr. Washington has been serving as the director of DEI and partnerships at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions in Baltimore, Maryland.

“My job is to go into communities, at the state level and the federal level, to really understand how gun violence impacts and shapes the lives of Black and brown communities, as well as what resources are available to reduce the violence,” she said. “How can we be of assistance to curbing the violence? What is the research suggesting to drive change?”

In the preceding year-and-a-half, she had two roles at Denison University in Granville, Ohio — first as associate director of its Office of Gender and Sexuality in early 2022 and later as associate director of the Center for Belonging and Inclusion.

This spring, Dr. Washington is among the recipients receiving the 2025 UW-Whitewater Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. The recognition is given to graduates no more than 15 years after receipt of a degree from UW-Whitewater.

Dr. Washington, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Criminal Justice from UW-Whitewater in 2016 and a Master of Science in Professional Development and Higher Education Leadership in 2017, said her desire is to ensure people from marginalized backgrounds are given an opportunity to excel.

Her personal and professional mission statement was cultivated during her time on the UW-Whitewater campus through a mix of what she described as “phenomenal professors, phenomenal research opportunities and scholarships and an opportunity to interact with like-minded and opposing-minded people.”

“I really credit UW-Whitewater for creating these foundational pieces that I continue to build upon now,” said Dr. Washington, who subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Indiana University. “One thing that I learned from Whitewater is that I love studying race, gender, sexuality — all of these different identities — because I wanted to learn more about myself as well as the people and students that were around me.”

In her role as director of DEI and partnerships at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Dr. Washington, right, taught a masterclass at the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Conference in Jacksonville, Florida, in January 2025. Her session focused on Black women and girls and their experiences with gun violence.

Dr. Washington grew up in Milwaukee and is a first-generation student. She pinpoints three specific experiences at UW-Whitewater that helped pave the path to the myriad academic endeavors that followed.

Prior to her first day in class, she was a part of UW-Whitewater’s merit-based King/Chávez Scholars Program, which helps prepare first-generation students with the transition from high school to college.

“There were people in my learning community that I could connect with, so there already were some of those relationships early,” she said. “It was amazing to be able to build those friendships and those confidants early on before getting thrust into this new academic world.”

Dr. Washington singles out her selection as a UW-Whitewater McNair Scholar in her sophomore year in 2014 as one of her proudest accomplishments to date. The opportunity connected her to a UW-Whitewater faculty member, Professor Chandra Waring in the Department of Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology, and presenting at a series of conferences, including the university’s Undergraduate Research Day.

“That was pivotal to me, learning about research. It also was an opportunity to open up the doors and understand there are different types of doctoral degrees,” Dr. Washington said. “It really expanded my horizons in doing research, as well as helping me gain an understanding that I can make an impact with the social sciences.”

Former sociology faculty member Chandra Waring recalls meeting Washington when she enrolled in her Race and Ethnic Relations course in 2014. 

“She went on to complete two more of my classes — Minority and Multiracial Families and Race, Ethnicity and Film — and served as my teaching assistant,” Waring said. “I was her McNair mentor for an original research project about race, music and genre-crossing. She has brilliant ideas, realistic action plans, and the record to show that she will execute her plan with precision. Of equal importance, all of her work invests in improving the lives of marginalized groups, such as women, people of color, and queer folks. To quote an African American expression, she is the personification of ‘lift as we climb.’”

The third pivotal experience, in her senior year, was membership into the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated on campus, which operates under the principles of scholarship, service, sisterhood and finer womanhood.

“It also allowed me to define who I am and who I was going to be, as a Black woman,” Dr. Washington said. “Our principles  are  really defined around finding our womanhood, being a scholar, building our sisterhood, as well as community service.”

Dr. Washington said furthering her education at UW-Whitewater deepened the personal and professional goals she had established as an undergraduate. She credits Associate Professor Courtney Luedke, who coordinated UW-Whitewater’s graduate program in higher education leadership, with helping her through the transformative experience.

“The entire program helped challenge me and helped me determine what kind of scholar I wanted to be,” she said. “How do I want to show up and advocate for other folks, within the community and in my research? Whitewater allowed me to figure out how I can make a change, on the ground and in my studies. I really do appreciate those experiences.”

Dr. Washington was able to participate in UW-Whitewater’s Hired Before Graduation campaign, which celebrates graduating students who have accepted a job or were admitted into a graduate program, in December 2017, after she was accepted in the Ph.D. in sociology program at Howard University in Washington, D.C. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

Alongside her professional accomplishments, she has attained a number of awards and recognitions. Among them are the Nia Award for Mid-Level Professionals from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the NASPA BDKC Stellar 50 Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

She earned three recognitions from Denison University: the Outstanding Support for Students Award, Excellence in Innovation Award and the Denison Pride Day Annual Calendar Recognition.

Reflecting on her time on the UW-Whitewater campus, Dr. Washington said she clearly sees the connective tissue that led to where she is today.

“The campus is a melting pot of all of these different experiences assimilating together.”