DeVetta Holman-Copeland
Dr. Holman-Copeland serves in the capacity of Coordinator for Resiliency and Student Support Programs. She is a professionally trained public health educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her undergraduate degree and a Masters Degree in Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health. DeVetta earned her Ph.D. degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. It is her dissertation: “Perception Analytics of an In-depth Observational Analysis of African American Male Students’ Personal Agency”, emphasizing self-concept and its relevance to personal agency in the classroom, which propels her to educate, mentor and affirm the lived experiences of all students, particularly, historically marginalized students. Her guiding principle is Esse Quam Videri, “To Be, Rather than to Seem”.
"Dr. D." has spear-headed several groups and organizations on campus such as, SISTER TALK; S.T.A.D. (Sister Talk After Dark); P.E.A.C.E.; R.E.A.L.Talk (Resiliency Education And Leadership) and DICE (Diversity & Inclusion in Collegiate Environments). Her body of work emphasizes persistence, self-awareness, resiliency, a growth mindset and its relevance to personal agency both, in and out of the classroom. She serves as the UNC Faculty Advisor for several UNC student organizations and is a campus liaison and collaborator for many UNC departments. She is a Duke Certified Integrated Health and Well-being Coach and works closely with Covenant Scholars. She is an advocate of the human spirit and is committed to “meeting students where they are.”
At UNC, DeVetta serves as Co-chair of the UNC Campus Safety Commission. She is also a member of the Carolina Women's Center Advisory Board ; Women of Worth Initiative Advisory Board; Executive Board for Carolina Black Caucus and formerly served as a lead on the Provost’s Committee on Inclusive Excellence and Diversity. In the greater community, she remains just as committed leading and serving others on the following boards: SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives For Teens), a statewide nonprofit leading North Carolina to improve adolescent and young adult sexual health, formerly The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina. She was a lead team member of the North Carolina Governor's Academy for Prevention Professionals, first in the nation, to put an academic base to primary prevention and trained prevention professionals. She is the executive director of the Global Health Connections International Summer STEAM Camp, a 2-week residential camp for middle school students to shift the paradigm in developing and molding future 21st century STEM leaders. She is the past recipient of the C. Knox Massey Award, Member of the Frank Porter Graham Honor Society, recipient of the University Association for the Advancement of Women and Inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece.