Assistant Vice Provost for Student Life, Community Expectations
Daren Rikio Mooko serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Student Life, Community Expectations.
Mooko served in the interim role before accepting his current position.
Mooko was born and raised in Torrance, California, and earned his B.A. from San Diego State University, majoring in English with a minor in Political Science. After earning his M.A. degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from the University of Vermont, he served as Assistant Director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Two years later, in 1997, he accepted the position of Director of the Asian American Resource Center (AARC) at Pomona College. During his 20 years at Pomona College, Mooko advanced to Associate Dean of Students, Associate Dean of Students for Student Development and Leadership and left as Associate Dean and Title IX Coordinator & Diversity Officer. At Pomona College he advised the Student Judicial Council, was a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Diversity, Incident Response Team and was involved in many other college-wide initiatives, including publishing the student handbook.
Mooko maintained a strong commitment to community work beyond the higher education setting through his support of Tuesday Night Café as well as serving on the Board of Directors for the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles, California.
Mooko accepted an offer to serve as Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Through this role, Mooko served on the President of the College’s cabinet and was responsible for a division of five departments. Immediately following his time at Whitman College, Mooko became the Interim President and Chief Executive Office for the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in 2018 where he presided over the 8 acre campus that contained the Aratani Theatre, Doizaki Gallery, Watanabe Culinary Cultural Center, Noguchi Plaza, Irvine Japanese Garden, Japanese American National War Memorial Court, and the 5-story JACCC Center Building.