Guess Who’s Back! Zoe Al-Tawiti ’20 Joins Westover’s Dorm Faculty

By Abby Leyson

Westover welcomes back Zoe Al-Tawiti ’20 as the School’s Activities Coordinator and a member of our Dorm Faculty. This past spring, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Entrepreneurship. Zoe was a member of WashU’s African Students Association (ASA), Black Student Network, and Muslim Students Association. She also worked as an RA during her junior and senior years.

She shared what she is most looking forward to in this new role, “I’m really excited to plan activities for the students, create core memories, and make sure that we build connections with each other. If there’s something they want to do or express, I will listen and be a safe space.” 

Zoe is a West. During her time at Westover, she was Head of WALSA (Westover African and Latina/o Student Association) and First Student Head of School her senior year. Her fondest Westover memories are when her class gathered for their annual sleepovers, which were iconic, to say the least. 

Whether they were cozy watching a movie or sliding down the stairs of Red Hall on top of mattresses in the same style as Anne Hathaway in “The Princess Diaries,” Zoe and her Westover peers knew not just how to have a good time, but to cherish the moments they built together.

“Any time my class got together––especially after Covid happened––we were all trying to find moments where we could come together as a class…we enjoyed each others’ presence,” Zoe said.

In her senior year, Zoe ensured that the bonds her class had did not dim despite the pandemic. Later, in the summer of 2021, she virtually worked with Westover’s faculty and staff to make one last class sleepover possible to celebrate their memories and lifetime friendships made on campus.

While at WashU, she accomplished many achievements––including the coordination of the annual ASA Fashion Show her senior year. Zoe titled the show “Baiwa: Unveiling Africa’s Beauty” to honor her late aunt Christine Dako-MacHarry, the founder and host of the talk show “Unveiling Africa.” Baiwa, which means talent in the Nigerian language Hausa, began the title with purpose to center what Zoe believes best represents Africans and WashU’s African community.

As the 2024 Creative Director, she brought the ASA’s Fashion Show to a new location on campus for their work and the artist’s work to have a space that accommodates not just those in attendance, but also the energy and spirit this annual event brings to WashU’s campus. 

Listening to Westover’s current student body to learn more about their interests and needs is of utmost importance to Zoe. Her experiences as an RA, as well as a proctor during her junior year at Westover, are beneficial to her as a part of our Dorm Faculty. In her third year at WashU, she was known for having her door open to her first-year residents and she was voted Outstanding RA.

“It will be really fun to get to know the new faces at Westover, see what they think of campus, and learn what they want to do here, especially with my role as Activities Coordinator,” Zoe shared. “To get engaged with the students, we have to see what they want and how it can be executed... I think it will be fun to be a [staff member] who’s not too far in age from them to guide them realistically throughout their Westover experience and futures.”

The School is overjoyed to have another Westover alum return as a member of our faculty and staff. Zoe will bring a unique and understanding approach to community building, or “vibe curating” as she would say, throughout the 2024-2025 school year.