Marques R. Dexter serves as the associate director of faculty & staff initiatives within the Office of Institutional Diversity. Under this role, Dexter leads the office in creating and organizing programming supporting diversity and inclusion specifically for faculty and staff. Additionally he assists in efforts to recruit and retain faculty and staff from underrepresented groups, as well as act as a significant resource for UGA faculty and staff and the UGA community as a whole. Within the scope of his role, Dexter acts as the director of the Georgia African American Male Experience (GAAME) program. Cumulatively, Dexter operates as a liaison between the Office of Institutional Diversity, campus, and community partners, contributing his expertise through developing training, presentations, publications, and reports.Dexter's research centers around the experiences of academically & athletically high-achieving Black male athletes. Utilizing visual qualitative research methods, he seeks to gain a greater understanding of the ways in which Black male athletes' academic, athletic, and racial identities are impacted by their lived experiences, affecting their sense of self. Through this research, Dexter seeks to highlight the heterogeneity existing among Black males, dismantling the deficit-based homogenous views plaguing their development. Ultimately, through his scholarship Dexter plans to create a Scholar-Athlete Identity Model to guide efforts in facilitating the holistic development of Black males, thereby positioning them to better obtain their desired life outcomes.Currently, Dexter is a sport management & policy doctoral candidate in the department of kinesiology at the University of Georgia's Mary Frances Early College of Education. Hailing from Philadelphia, PA., Dexter received his bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in sport management from Robert Morris University (PA). Later, he graduated from the University of Georgia with a master’s degree in kinesiology, specializing in sport management & policy.