DSU Board of Trustees welcome two new members

The DSU Board of Trustees welcomed two new members to its governing body during its Dec. 5 retreat meeting – Wilmington Mayor Michael S. Purzycki and Tetra Shockley, Esquire.

Mayor Michael S. Purzycki has made Delaware State University a part of his new public service chapter as he concludes his tenure as the two-term Mayor of Wilmington, Del. Under his mayoral leadership, almost $1 billion of private investment was injected into the economy of the City of Wilmington. In addition to overseeing the tremendous revitalization of Wilmington’s downtown and riverfront, $14 million was invested in the city’s neighborhood parks and public space under his leadership.

Before his years as mayor, Mayor Purzycki was the head of the Riverfront Development Corporation, which reinvented and reinvigorated the areas along the Christina River. He also served for 10 years as the Chairman of the Wilmington Hope Commission, the work of which led to the completion of the Achievement Center building, which helps formerly incarcerated men transition back into the community.

Mr. Purzycki graduated from the University of Delaware, earning a Bachelor’s degree in History, and was a school-record-setting receiver on its Blue Hens football team. He later completed Delaware Law School and was admitted to the Delaware Bar. He practiced law for over a decade, including serving as an attorney for the Delaware State Senate. He also was an elected New Castle County Council member for nine years.

He is the brother of Joe Purzycki, Head Coach of the DSU Hornets football team from 1981 to 1984.

Tetra S. Shockley, Esquire, is a law partner in Benton & Shockley Law, P.A., where she specializes in family law and personal injury. She graduated from DSU in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management. She later completed an MBA in Executive Leadership at Wesley College. She graduated from Widener University School of Law in 2012 with a Juris Doctor degree.

Mrs. Shockley is a member of the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, the Delaware State Bar Association’s Committee on Nominations, Delaware’s Court of the Judiciary’s Preliminary Investigatory Committee, and serves as the Vice President of the Kent County Bar Association. She is also licensed to practice law in New Jersey.

She is the author of The Solitaire: Set aside, Set apart, Set free, a 2017 inspirational book on how to push past the challenges of life to pursue one’s dreams. She is a Minister-in-Training at The Family Church in Voorhees, New Jersey, where she is a member.

Mrs. Shockley is an active and successful pageant competitor. In 2019, she was named Mrs. Cosmos United States and a three-time Mrs. Delaware America (2016, 2021, and 2024).

Mayor Purzycki fills the DSU Trustee seat of past Gov. Michael N. Castle, and Mrs. Shockley succeeds Dr. Devona Williams on the Board. Both former Trustees’ terms had expired. 

Both new Trustees are appointees of Gov. John Carney.