Northwest Mississippi Community College Announces Isaac Lias, Jr. as New Director of Housing and Residence Life
Senatobia, MS (07/31/2023) — Northwest Mississippi Community College announced its new director of Housing and Residence Life as Isaac Lias, Jr. of Southaven.
Lias, who has had experience in residence hall management for most of his adult life, started as a residence assistant (RA).
A first-generation college student from a single parent household, Lias said his family's way of supporting him was "giving him paper towels and emotional support," but as far as really figuring out college life, he said he had a lot to learn during that time.
He studied Educational Psychology in undergrad and Educational Leadership for his masters with an emphasis in student affairs and higher education at Mississippi State University.
Shortly before graduating college, Lias married his wife, Jase, and the couple have one daughter, Uriah. He affectionately calls them, "my girls." After college, he continued working in Housing both at Mississippi State University and Rhodes College in Memphis.
"I did take a step out of higher ed," Lias said. "That was monumental."
Lias said his "step out" was to explore a different kind of opportunity as part of the Chick-Fil-A team as a Back of House (BOH) Leader and focused on various skills and duties with that position. Lias says these are skills he has taken with him into positions like the one he's in now.
Lias's goal for the next year is to learn as much as he can while updating to "simple, smart, and consistent systems" to become more efficient.
Lias said there's one thing he always says to his students, and he's coined it as his sort of motto: "Do not panic. We got this." He said he has said it so much that he has taken it and used it as a hashtag #DNP to encourage students.
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Northwest Mississippi Community College welcomes Isaac Lias, Jr., as its new director of Housing and Residence Life. Photo by Alyssa Pirani