As I do each year, I marched in the Springfield Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March on Monday. I was proud to see many of our faculty, staff and students present as well.
Thanks to everyone who participated. It is important that we show our support for diversity and inclusion not only on our campus, but the in the greater community as well.
Changes in diversity leadership
The past few weeks have been transformative. Our chief diversity officer resigned, and we named Wes Pratt as our new chief diversity officer. Provost Dr. Frank Einhellig also appointed Dr. Gilbert Brown as associate provost for diversity. Dr. Brown has been centrally involved in the College of Education’s diversity hiring efforts.
In fiscal year 2015, over 50 percent of the College of Education’s hires were diverse. We’re confident Dr. Brown can assist us in enhancing our efforts to hire and retain diverse faculty across the University. You can read more about Mr. Pratt and Dr. Brown’s specific duties, initiatives, and goals in their column in today’s Inside Missouri State.
With these changes comes opportunity. I commit to you that diversity will be an even more important focus as we move forward.
And with our new leadership will come new ideas and renewed vigor to achieve excellence at Missouri State. I look forward to what lies ahead.
How you can help
One opportunity we will seize in the very near future is to create a diversity and inclusion committee comprised of internal and external members who will report directly to me. Previously, diversity committees largely reported to the chief diversity officer instead of to the president.
We believe this new structure will allow attention and resources to flow more efficiently to the University’s diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives. It will also provide me with a robust body of individuals from whom I can directly seek counsel on diversity matters.
If you would like to be a part of this new committee, please email me. We will create a list of all interested individuals and use that list to select a committee roster.
Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!
- Clif’s Notes for April 23, 2024 - April 23, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for April 16, 2024 - April 16, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for April 9, 2024 - April 9, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for April 2, 2024 - April 2, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for March 26, 2024 - March 26, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for March 19, 2024 - March 19, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for March 5, 2024 - March 5, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for Feb. 27, 2024 - February 27, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for Feb. 20, 2024 - February 20, 2024
- Clif’s Notes for Feb. 13, 2024 - February 13, 2024