In a campus wide BlitzMail message, College President James Wright announced the appointment of Tucker Foundation Dean and Associate Provost Stuart Lord to the position of interim vice president for institutional diversity.
Lord will be filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Ozzie Harris, who ended his tenure as Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity in 2005. Though the role that Lord will fill has a new title, its structure and purpose are essentially the same as the role Harris previously filled.
Lord will continue to have a presence in Tucker until the new vice president of institutional diversity is established in the position. He will then return to Tucker full time, according to a BlitzMail message sent by Lord's assistant Todd Kilburn.
The announcement came following a Fall term that saw race issues on campus reach a climax.
The position was renamed after a committee headed by Provost Barry Scherr reviewed the Report of the Committee on Institutional Diversity and Equity released in June 2001. That report called for the initial establishment of the position.
"Because of openings in two key positions, it made sense to do such a review so that we could be sure that we had the right organization and structure in place to support our diversity efforts, which are so central to our educational mission," Wright said in the message.
The change in nomenclature from "Special Assistant to the President" to "Vice President for Institutional Diversity" is the primary change recommended by the committee, Scherr said. The modification was made to "help signal the importance of that office to the rest of the campus," he said. This position will now report to the provost as well as to the president of the College.
Scherr said that after examining similar positions in peer institutions, the committee felt the change was necessary and would allow for the vice president for institutional diversity to work directly with several offices.
College Chaplain Richard Crocker will serve as the acting dean for Tucker in the interim. Other responsibilities will be delegated as deemed appropriate, Kilburn said.
Wright appointed Associate Dean for the Humanities Kate Conley to chair the search for the permanent vice president for institutional diversity. The position is expected to be filled sometime this summer, Scherr said.
Wright cited Lord's accomplishments in his post at Tucker, such as the creation of new programs and the increased number of student participation in outreach and service, as evidence of his competency for the position.
"I know that Stuart will bring this same level of imagination and energy to his work as the vice president for institutional diversity," Wright said.
In another change, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action will now report to the new position. The committee also recommended that the dean of the College begin his search for a replacement dean for the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. The committee expects to announce a replacement in early spring.
