2025-02-19: Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, Dr. Katya Armistead Retires

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February 19, 2025

TO:   Campus Community 

FR:   Margaret Klawunn, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

RE:   Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, Dr. Katya Armistead

Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know that Dr. Katya Armistead, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, will retire on June 30, 2025.  Katya has given 34 years of exceptional service to the UC Santa Barbara campus within the Division of Student Affairs and as an instructor for the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and the Walter H. Capps Center. Katya’s leadership and knowledge have changed the field of higher education and the lives of generations of students.  We are so grateful for Katya’s love of students, her dedication, her inspiring energy, her ideas, and her unmatched commitment to colleagues and to the UCSB campus.

A UCSB alum with an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a doctorate in Education, Katya’s professional journey started as an Administrative Assistant in the Admissions Office. She then served as Campus Visit Coordinator and Assistant Director within Admissions, coordinating the Visitor Center.  In 2008, recognizing Katya’s passion for working with students, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael D. Young recruited Katya to be an Assistant Dean.  Katya would go on to lead the Office of Student Life (now Student Engagement and Leadership), modernizing the infrastructure to support student leadership, Greek life, and registered campus organizations.  In this role, among other duties, Katya worked with the Associated Students Program Board and helped to establish some of their signature annual events, such as the Delirium Halloween concert.  For over 10 years, Katya advised the Black Student Union and supported BSU in hosting the Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC) Conference three times at UCSB.  In the past three years, Katya established the Demonstration Resource Team (DRT), which plays a critical role in ensuring that free speech policies are observed and student protests are understood through the lens of freedom of expression.  

Following the tragedy in Isla Vista in 2014, Katya’s ability to inspire the community and bring together students, faculty, and staff proved essential.  Katya organized the “I heart UCSB” campaign with student leaders, planned a candlelight vigil, and, in her role as Dean of Students, helped to host the memorial in Harder Stadium that brought 20,000 UCSB community members together in grief and solidarity.  These contributions highlight Katya’s impact on the campus.  

Katya’s superb ability to mentor students and staff is legendary.  She has written and published a chapter on culturally-based mentoring in a journal on Higher Education and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  In addition to her work with individual colleagues, Katya helped to establish an important annual professional development opportunity for new professionals within the Division of Student Affairs the Foundations program, and she has led and taught in the program for many years.  Katya’s undergraduate courses include Introduction to Leadership Development (in Education) and a seminar in Civic Engagement and Deliberative Democracy (in the Capps Center) taught with Dr. Viviana Marsano.  

Katya’s expertise in free speech policies on college campuses has been recognized across the UC system and nationally, as she is regularly invited to speak on these topics.  Katya was a principal speaker at the first conference, the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, organized in 2021. This spring, Katya is presenting on free expression at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Conference, the premier conference in our field.  Katya has served on numerous boards for national higher education organizations, including the Western Regional Board for NASPA.  Within the University of California, Katya has chaired the Associate and Assistant Vice Chancellors and Dean of Students Council.

Katya has received campus and community awards for her work, including receiving the Margaret T. Getman twice because of her extraordinary commitment to the growth and development of UCSB students.  Katya also received a STAR award in recognition of her work that made an outstanding contribution to the UCSB campus.  In 2024, Katya was recognized for positively shaping the lives of children and families in Santa Barbara County with a LEAP award.  

Some of you may know that Katya was elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Education this fall.  Katya is very active within the Santa Barbara community, including co-facilitating the Emerging Leaders Program for Leading from Within.  Katya’s community work will continue in her retirement from UCSB as she has been selected to serve as the Co-Director of Leading From Within, a non-profit organization focused on building the capacity of our local social sector leaders, starting in August.  

On a personal note, it has been my pleasure and honor to work with Katya and to partner with her in our work with students.  We have always been on the same page when it comes to students because I know that I can trust her heart and instincts in collaborating with students.  Katya has made so many contributions to UCSB and to Student Affairs that it is hard for me to imagine the identity of the campus and the core of our work with students without her positive influence.  

Please join me in thanking Katya for her many, many contributions to UCSB and congratulating her on her retirement. More information will follow about opportunities to celebrate Katya’s retirement and plans for a search.  

Sincerely,
Margaret Klawunn
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs