Darien Thompson feels like she is home again.

The new director of African American Initiatives earned her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management and an MBA from Purdue University Northwest. She was a four-year letter winner for the PNW women’s basketball team, where she averaged 19.2 points per game and helped lead the Pride to a regular season and conference tournament championship along with three NAIA tournament appearances.

Now she leads an innovative program called Unity Hubb to help Black students.

“The Unity Hub serves as an advocate for the Black community at PNW,” said Thompson. “We provide support for students and help with their educational and professional development. We also want to provide a sense of unity among students.”

Black students make up roughly 10% of PNW’s enrollment. 

Thompson is involved in recruiting, retaining and helping Black students feel like they belong. 

“The Unity Hub is here to provide a safe space for our students of color and provide resources to help them along their college journey,” she said.

Thompson played a similar role at West Lafayette.  She was associate director of Diversity Initiatives at the Daniels School of Business there, and director of BOP Future Scholars.

“This role builds on much of the work I’ve been doing in diversity in the previous years,” she said. “In my previous role I gained exposure to many resources that can help and encourage students on their college journey.  I wanted to bring that knowledge back to PNW to implement new resources to better our students.” 

Thompson said it feels good to be back in Northwest Indiana.

“Returning to my alma mater in a professional role truly has been a full circle experience,” she said. “It means so much to come back to the institution that helped shape me into who I am today.”

She plans to bring the drive she learned as a member of the 1,000 point club on PNW women’s basketball team.

“I love to bring the energy, that’s the athlete in me coming out,” Thompson said. “However, I do hope to bring fun and new ideas to help better the student experience and increase the retention and graduation rate of our African American students.”

“We’re just getting started with this new program,” she said. “College is some of the most transformational years of a student’s life and we want to make sure that we’re doing our part in our office so that our students feel a sense of belonging on campus during their time here.”