Doris B. Arrington, Dean of Student Services at Capital Community College, is this year’s recipient of the Connecticut Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Administrative Leadership Award, which was presented at the organization’s Spring Conference at Trinity College this past Friday, March 10.

The CT AWN Awards Committee cited being impressed by her “sustained commitment to fostering self-improvement, empowerment, and professional development opportunities for women of color.”

Dean of Students Doris Arrington accepts leadership award at Trinity College. At left is CCC President Wilfredo Nieves.

Dean Arrington has a long history of helping others strive for self-improvement and success. As a sophomore at University of Connecticut she mentored first-year students, teaching them to advocate for themselves and get involved with organizations that provided leadership opportunities. Through her continuing work with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she started the Delta Academy in 1997, a Saturday Academy that encourages teenagers to pursue STEM careers. Two decades later they still meet on the second Saturday of each month at Capital Community College!

Dean Arrington currently serves as the co-chair of AAUWCT (Connecticut chapter of the American Association of University Women), and it has been her mission to enlist new professionals to leadership positions in the organization. She is also a Hartford YMCA Achiever Board Member and mentor.

At Capital, Dean Arrington has assembled a multi-cultural student services team, who she inspires to be inventive, and she has hired, promoted and mentored numerous female staff members from diverse backgrounds, many of whom have advanced their careers at Capital and other institutions of higher education.

“It is gratifying to be recognized with this award for what I see as my life’s work,” said Dean Arrington, “mentoring and empowering women to achieve professional and personal success.”

by Jane Bronfman