Cleo Magwaro, LL.B, LL.M.
Associate vice president of Equity and Access Services
Email: magwaroc@vcu.edu
Cleopatra “Cleo” Magwaro is the associate vice president Equity and Access Services (EAS) and serves as the lead and primary representative of EAS at VCU. Her human-centered approach to civil rights compliance promotes a climate of trust, empathy and integrity where all people are valued and where differences, both seen and unseen, are recognized as an integral part of who we are as a community.
Additionally, Magwaro’s role focuses on meeting and exceeding civil rights compliance standards, as well as ensuring all federal and state legal and regulatory requirements are fulfilled. She provides broad leadership across ADA/Accessibility services, EEO/AA guidelines for registering programs for minors on campus,Title IX, data and trends reporting.
Prior to joining VCU, Magwaro was the acting director, equal opportunity and Title IX coordinator at Kansas State University. Magwaro graduated with a dual Bachelor of Justice (B.A.) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and Master of Laws (LL.M.) from American University, Washington College of Law. Magwaro taught law in Australia and later practiced and served as a magistrate judge in both criminal and civil courts– in Zimbabwe. In the US, Magwaro has worked in civil rights and human rights, including extensive research on comparative human rights in Africa for Dr. Aminata Touré, before Touré went on to become Justice Minister and later Prime Minister of Senegal. Magwaro is mission driven and is inspired by VCU’s values as a public research institution.