February 24, 2014

President appoints new institution-wide committee on diversity and inclusion

President Glassner appoints a new advisory committee to promote and improve diversity and inclusion.

President Barry Glassner has appointed a special advisory committee to review and recommend initiatives across the institution to promote and improve diversity and inclusion in the College’s programs and practices. Chaired by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Tuajuanda Jordan, the committee will consist of faculty, students, and staff from the three schools.

The formation of the new committee follows the President’s appointment in January of a task force to review and recommend improvements to the College’s policy on hate/bias-motivated conduct. That task force, chaired by Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Janet Steverson, has already begun its work.

“Our goal is to become one of the most welcoming learning communities in the nation, a place where differences are supported and respected,” President Glassner said. “Under Dean Jordan’s leadership, and with the skilled and committed members who have accepted my invitation to serve, I am confident this committee will accelerate our progress.”

The committee’s members are:
  • Janet Bixby, associate dean, graduate school
  • Tricia Brand, associate dean of student engagement, CAS
  • Michael Coiner, administrative specialist, CAS
  • Isaac Dixon, associate vice president and director of human resources
  • Mark Duntley, dean of the chapel
  • Se-ah-dom Edmo, coordinator of the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program                 
  • Erik Fast, director of corporate foundation relations
  • Arielle Fettman, student, graduate school
  • Marisol Garcia, assistant professor of counseling psychology, graduate school
  • Joann Geddes, co-director and instructor of Academic English Studies
  • Anna Gonzalez, dean of students, CAS
  • Rudy Jeffries, student, law school
  • Tuajuanda Jordan, dean and professor, CAS
  • JB Kim, assistant dean for diversity and academic resources, law school
  • Brian King, lead general maintenance worker, facilities services
  • Gabriela Rodriguez, student, CAS
  • Liz Stanhope, associate professor of mathematical sciences, CAS
  • Janet Steverson, Douglas K. Newell Professor of Teaching Excellence, law school
  • Juliet Stumpf, associate professor, law school
  • Yueping Zhang, associate professor of psychology, CAS
Ex-officio members:
  • Jane Atkinson, vice president and provost
  • David Ellis, vice president, secretary and general counsel

To this point, diversity initiatives at Lewis & Clark have generally been pursued by and through committees at each of the schools. While those efforts have yielded positive results, President Glassner said, the newly appointed committee will be better positioned to create comprehensive plans and coordinate approaches specific to each of the schools.

“I am tremendously pleased by the way Lewis & Clark students, faculty, and staff have come together around our shared commitment to diversity and inclusion,” President Glassner said. “I look forward to the ideas and initiatives that the new committee will put in motion.”