Susan Davis, associate vice president of student affairs, has been awarded the Z Society’s highest honor, the Pale Z award. The award is the “rarest honor” the secret society bestows upon individuals.
According to a release, the Z Society chose to award Davis with the honor because of the time and effort she has given to the University, “from preserving our system of student self-governance to advocating for student rights.”
The Z Society said it decided to bestow the honor on Davis due to her history of helping the University.
“There is not one specific thing that Ms. Davis has done, but rather her entire career at the University of Virginia has been in service to others, protecting what we value while being a force of warmth and goodness that inspires us all,” the Z Society said in an email to The Cavalier Daily.
Davis began working at the University in 1999 as an attorney in the General Counsel’s office. In 2004, she moved to the University’s division of student affairs and began working in a law and policy administrative role.
“Within that role, I do a lot of work with student organizations and student leaders,” Davis said. “The University Judiciary Committee is one of the groups I work particularly close with.”
Most recently, Davis worked as acting vice president and chief student affairs officer while Pat Lampkin took a semester-long sabbatical, which the Z Society commended in their press release.
“Stepping into one of the most challenging roles at U.Va. as interim VPSA this past semester, she served with absolute integrity and compassion,” the Z Society said.
Davis said she was presented with a framed certificate which served as the award.
“It’s really lovely because within the framed certificate are a bunch of quotes from students and colleagues that I have worked with over the years,” Davis said. “It’s a real treasure.”
Davis also said being honored with the award came as a big surprise.
“Honestly, it means the world to me, it truly does,” Davis said. “It’s just such an honor. I’m still numb from it all to be honest. It’s just something I’m going to treasure forever. It’s going to be on my office wall.”
The Z Society has been awarding the Pale Z award for decades as a way to recognize individuals who have generously served the University.
Past recipients of the award include Lampkin, University President Emeritus John T. Casteen III, late Professor Emeritus Ernest Mead and Executive Director of Assessment and Planning Nicole Eramo.
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