Sharifa A. Wip (she/her) serves as the inaugural Associate Dean of Students & Director of Black Student Empowerment.

Prior to joining the Centers for Equity, Empowerment and Belonging, she served as the Assistant Director in the office of Student Multicultural and Diversity Programs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she spent the better part of a decade providing support to an array of primarily Black and international student populations. She brings with her the expertise and experience of working with alumni and advising programming boards, student organizations, and mentorship initiatives. Before her work in higher education, Sharifa worked in television at WBRC-TV. She earned her B.A. in African American Studies and Mass Communications and her Masters in Information Engineering Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Sharifa is the daughter of Surinamese parents and was raised in Southern California. She and her sister, Dr. Charity A. Wip, are avid sports fans and host an annual sister trip, “WIP Around the World” where they explore the world together. They have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, trekked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and most recently enjoyed bird watching and star gazing in the Atacama Desert in Chile.