In addition to being the new director for Title IX and Diversity, Vanessa Love, 35, has had a varied career in the legal field in relation to helping students, as well as those in child services.

Love went to the University of Pittsburgh and majored in political science with a minor in legal studies before going to law school. She got involved in Title IX first, and after finishing law school, went into child welfare law which required a lot of pro bono work. She then left Pittsburgh for Howard University in Washington D.C. to serve as their Title IX investigator. Love returned to the city when her father was sick and served as CCAC’s civil rights investigator.

Love chose to take the position at Point Park due to the university’s “mission and diversity.”  Working with the students is also a plus.

“It’s working with the students but it’s also being able to train and do prevention work. When I did work as an attorney, there wasn’t any prevention I could do. That’s why I went into Title IX.”

The cases she tackled when she was serving as an attorney included the termination of paternal rights, adoption and protection of abuse.

Love feels the most important thing for students when it comes to Title IX is the education process in order to prevent sexual assault and harassment. She says that once students recognize what’s happening, then conversations about consent can unfold. The hardest thing about being involved in Title IX in regards to other legal areas is the limited involvement Love has in the process.

“The hardest part of the process is when all you can do is support – my role is a supportive role,” Love said. “You wanna do more but you can’t do more.”

Love says her day to day consists of meetings with students and investigators and differs from her previous position at Howard University. There, she investigated cases from start to finish, and now she hands the cases to the investigators.

To spread awareness of Title IX’s services, Love says they plan on doing a marketing campaign and putting up posters. For the diversity part of her job, Love says it will allow her to gain more expertise in the area of inclusion, and partner her with the Center for Inclusive Excellence. Overall, Love is excited for a number of aspects in the job description.

“The position is exciting for me because it allows me to pair my passion for equity for all while also engaging in prevention education under the Title IX policy.”

When she’s not on campus helping students, Love says she serves as a personal Uber driver to her 14-year-old daughter.