2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium Keynote Speaker

Buffie Longmire-Avital, PhD (she/her)

Professor of Psychology

Director, Black Lumen Project: An Equity Initiative 

Faculty Administrative Fellow for Mentoring 

Elon University

Bio: As a diversity, inclusion, and racial equity [DIRE©] scholar- educator Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital is committed to deeply engaging, transformative, and reparative social justice institutional design frameworks that are rooted in: (1) data driven best practices, (2) centering experience epistemological narratives, and (3) that are both collaboratively and intentionally crafted for sustainable outcomes. Dr. Longmire-Avital is a member of the Psychology Department, the inaugural director of the Black Lumen Project, an equity initiative, and is currently serving as the Faculty Administrative Fellow for Mentoring in Meaningful Relationships. She previously served as the coordinator of the African and African American Studies interdisciplinary minor program for six years. In academic 2021-2022 she became the first Black-identified faculty member promoted to the rank of professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at Elon University. Longmire-Avital received her PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. For nearly two decades her research has focused on how systemic injustices in combination with various psychosocial factors contribute to health inequities that impact racial and sexual minorities. Through a critical community health frame, her primary research explores how the adoption of high effort coping responses (e.g., strong Black woman, hyper vigilance) in response to chronic minority status stressors (e.g., daily encounters with discrimination, microaggressions, racism, poverty) play a part in the development of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors (e.g., high risk sexual encounters, emotional eating) and mental health outcomes for young collegiate adults. Longmire-Avital’s secondary research examines how virtual interventions creating and evaluating community-based intervention programs targeting Black American women living with chronic health conditions, such as a diagnosis of HIV or those who have adopted high effort coping responses (e.g., strong Black woman) sustain well-being, increase self-care and self-compassionate beliefs. She has received both internal and external funding awards to support her ongoing health inequities research throughout her career.  In 2023 she was one of 11 scholars awarded a fellowship through the Race, Religion, and American Judaism Project. The initiative, which explores the ways Jewish parents talk about race and racism with their children was a funded through the Center for Jewish Ethics and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Longmire-Avital has published numerous articles and served on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals. As the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) Scholar from 2018 – 2020 she wrote widely read CEL blogs focused on how to generate and sustain critically conscious, equitable approaches that support underserved and often invisible students’ engagement in High Impact Practices through critically informed reparative mentorship. In 2022 was asked to serve as one of four undergraduate research experts to revise the Council of Undergraduate Research’s Characteristics for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. She was appointed to the AURA selection committee in 2024. Longmire-Avital has received numerous awards in recognition of her excellence in mentorship as well as leadership service. She is also a recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health, Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities, and a National Research Service Award.