Penn State Student Affairs VP Damon Sims Steps Down

One of Penn State’s most prominent administrators is stepping down, the university said on Tuesday.

Damon Sims has left his position as vice president for student affairs and is serving as a special assistant to university President Neeli Bendapudi until June 30, according to a release. Sims will later move to the classroom as a non-tenure track associate professor.

Andrea Dowhower, Penn State’s associate vice president for student affairs, will serve as the office’s interim vice president until a permanent replacement is named. Penn State expects to launch a national search for Sims’ successor within the next few months.

Since 2008, Sims served as a key part of Penn State’s senior leadership team. Through his nearly 15 years of work with Penn State Student Affairs, he led more than 500 full-time and nearly 1,000 part-time staff members while heading the department’s efforts to promote student success through 33 administrative units. Student Affairs units include University Health Services, Residence Life, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Fraternity and Sorority Life, Penn State’s Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and more.

Sims’ lengthy list of achievements, described in full through a university press release, includes involvement in the creation of several student-supporting units, including Student Legal Services, the Penn State Parents Program and Campus Recreation. More recently, he co-chaired a committee to chart out Penn State’s return to campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic and helped expand Student Care and Advocacy, a unit that supports students who require assistance with basic needs such as food and housing.

During his tenure, Sims and his team also worked to reform Penn State’s Greek life community following the death of Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student and Beta Theta Pi pledge who died following alcohol-related hazing in 2017. Today, Penn State’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Compliance now works to monitor Greek organizations. The university also implemented revised Greek life recruitment processes, new social restrictions on Greek organizations and a zero-tolerance policy for hazing.

In 2019, Penn State founded the Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform, which works to promote nationwide Greek life reform. Piazza’s death also prompted the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law, which, signed by former Governor Tom Wolf in 2018, toughened criminal penalties for hazing and increased requirements for institutions and organizations held responsible.

Sims’ tenure also saw changes to the university’s campus, notably through the 2015 expansion of the HUB-Robeson Center. In 2020, Penn State opened a new space in the HUB-Robeson Center for its Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which previously stood in the Boucke Building.

Outside of his direct work with Penn State Student Affairs, Sims served on a number of university committees and councils, including the Faculty Senate, the Academic Leadership Council and the university’s top ethics committee. He also helped raise more than $24.4 million in private giving to Penn State Student Affairs, according to a release.

Sims’ work often included collaborations with officials in the State College community to ultimately strengthen town-and-gown relationships. Alongside Borough Manager Tom Fountaine, Sims co-chaired the Campus-Community Partnership on Dangerous Drinking, which received the 2015 International Town-Gown Association’s Impact Award. Sims also worked closely with the Chamber of Business and Industry for Centre County and, in partnership with the State College borough, created the Living in One Neighborhood (LION) initiative, which works to enhance town-and-gown relationships.