University to Begin Search for a Chief Diversity Officer
Sewanee Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety has announced that the university is beginning the process of hiring a chief diversity officer, who will have the title of vice provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The vice provost will oversee a new Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Provost Nancy Berner will lead a national search for candidates for the position.
Amid America’s own reckoning with systemic racism, the university’s Board of Regents recently called the university to become a “model of diversity, of inclusion, of intellectual rigor, and of loving spirit in an America that rejects prejudice and embraces possibility.” In September, Brigety named several initiatives toward this goal, which will be increasingly important as Sewanee recruits students, as well as faculty and staff, from an ever more diverse pool.
The new vice provost will assess current programs and practices to identify barriers that limit progress in the areas of DEI and will recommend changes; partner with other offices and students to support a welcoming and inclusive campus climate; and ensure that diversity and inclusion initiatives are integrated throughout the university.
“The vice provost will help ensure that Sewanee’s campus climate reflects the University’s deepest value, that of Ecce Quam Bonum,” said Brigety. (“Ecce Quam Bonum” is shorthand for the university’s motto, “Behold how good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”)
Brigety noted that much great work already has abeen done at Sewanee toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. The chief diversity officer will work with those who are already engaged in these issues, and will coordinate and leverage the University’s various efforts for greater overall effectiveness. “The work to enhance DEI at the University of the South will be integrated in everything we do—how we recruit students and prepare them for the world, how we achieve academic excellence, how we recruit and support faculty and staff, and how we interact with our neighbors and the world,” he said. “I’m excited to continue this work together.”