Of the many administrators and sub-administrators at Duke, Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta is one of the most visible.
As vice president, he oversees a number of departments that include Housing, Dining, Healthcare, CAPS, Wellness and the Culture Center.
"My role is to ensure all the support and services that students need are available to them," Moneta said.
He describes his average day as a hodgepodge of meetings from all sectors that involve student life.
"The nice thing about my job is the diversity and variety," he said. "I can start my day meeting with the career center staff talking about what the job market looks like in 2015... and then [have] a meeting about race relations and the celebration of 50 Years of Black Students. Or I might drive down the Marine Lab to discuss what [they might need]."
The wide range of topics he deals with on Duke’s campus leads to his visibility since he can also be found regularly in the pages of The Chronicle. His interview topics range from the closure of Joe Van Gogh to University policy on sexual misconduct. And, flipping to the editorial pages, his name is often lauded or criticized for his work.
For instance, a 2011 column by junior Scott Briggs begins: "I could write an exhaustive list detailing all the egregious things that Larry Moneta has done to the students at Duke during his time here."
Moneta also pops up in student inboxes to address tragedies such as, most recently, the tornado in Oklahoma. When composing these emails, he spoke about making sure that he addressed the student body in "language that is both passionate and caring, but is explicit."
Moneta encourages Duke students "to be the great detectives that they are meant to be and to taste a few things that seem to be out of their comfort zone."
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