The Director: Vincent E. Vigil, Ed.D.
Vincent was born and raised in Pico Rivera, CA. As a child from a single parent household and from a working class background, Vincent made education a priority in his life.
He attended El Rancho High School and graduated with honors as the “outstanding senior boy” in his entire graduating class due to his extra curricular involvement with the Associated Student Body, CIF, Key Club and more.
After high school, Vincent attended Whittier College to receive a Bachelors of Arts degree in Business Administration. Whittier College presented an opportunity to get one-on-one attention from faculty and staff, which was needed as a first generation college student. At Whittier, Vincent was involved with many campus organizations ranging from Council of Representatives (COR), Sachsen Society, creator of Bisexual Gay & Lesbian Alliance for Diversity (BGLAD) and Program Board. He held various leadership positions on campus, but he especially enjoyed educating the campus community about diversity and multicultural issues, which showed through his leadership on campus as chair of the Diverse Identities Committee and the Minority Caucus as well as president/founder of BGLAD. He was even honored with two Student Life Awards for Diversity and Leadership. Vincent was also selected by his peers as Whittier’s Homecoming King.
After Whittier College, he entered the Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs (PASA) Program at the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Education. During his graduate studies, Vincent worked at assistantships for USC Program Board and the LGBT Resource Center. He also held leadership positions in the Graduate and Professional Student Senate serving as Public Relations Director (2003-2005) and the LGBT Concerns Committee. In 2005, Vincent received the Lambda Alumni Scholarship in Education.
In 2005, Vincent along with students, staff and faculty advocated for a full-time director for LGBT student services at USC and presented their proposal for this position to the Division of Student Affairs. The following year, Vincent was hired as USC's first full-time Director for the LGBT Resource Center. Under his leadership the center created many of it's new programs and services like the Faculty & Staff Ally Program, QueerStories, Freshman Advoacy Board and much more. Vincent's leadership also garnished several national and local awards for the LGBT Resource Center, click here for details. He also maintained and improved the existent programs like University Rap and collaborations with the Rainbow Floor.
In 2007, Vincent finished his doctorate degree in Education from the Rossier School of Education, his dissertation is about the college experiences of Black gay college men and how their experiences influence their identity development. Click here to read more.
In 2008, Vincent received the USC Undergraduate Student Government (USG) “Administrator of the Year” for his collaboration with USG and Program Board and in 2010 Vincent received an "Outstanding Staff Mentor of the Year" from The Office of Residential Education. He also was the only Student Affairs professional to be recognized with a nomination for the USC Parent's Association and The Office of Parent Programs 2010 Teaching and Mentoring Award.