|
 |
Maya Angelou once said: “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”
The University of Texas at Austin embraces and nurtures that philosophy. For university students, faculty and staff, diversity is not a cliché. It is a major priority. The university aims to set a high standard for diversity in higher education.
President William Powers Jr. emphasizes that The University of Texas at Austin, its student body, faculty and staff, must reflect an array of ethnicities, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and political viewpoints.
“That’s the beauty of a big research university. It brings together many, many voices. It makes our university stronger,” Powers says. “You don’t want a campus that’s homogenous.”
Diversity is part of Power’s four-point strategic plan, highlighting its importance to the university community as a whole. “This is one of those things you can’t just talk about. You have to actually get out and roll up your sleeves and work on it,” Powers says.
Early Promise, Measurable Results
That work on diversity has paid off. More than 45 percent of incoming freshman for fall 2007 are from underrepresented groups, Powers says. University-wide, fall 2007 enrollment increased for African American, American Indian, Asian American and Hispanic students. There have also been 30 new faculty appointments from underrepresented groups since 2005.
Although the university enrolled the most ethnically diverse freshman class in its history during fall 2007, 19.7 percent Hispanic students, 19.7 percent Asian American students and 5.8 percent African American students, it strives to continue building a diverse student body, faculty and staff that truly reflect Texas and the entire country. This diversity effort involves outreach programs, admissions centers, financial aid, faculty recruitment programs and many other initiatives.
“An important part of what we’ve done over the decades is to educate a large part of the leadership of this state, and it is an increasingly diverse state,” Powers says. “As a result, we need an increasingly diverse leadership in our economy, in our businesses, in our political institutions, in our cultural institutions.”
A Platform for Diversity
The cornerstone of the university’s commitment to diversity is the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, led by Dr. Gregory J. Vincent. Vincent came to The University of Texas at Austin in summer 2005 to fill the new position of vice provost for inclusion and cross-cultural effectiveness, created by then-President Larry R. Faulkner in response to recommendations from the university’s Task Force on Racial Respect and Fairness. After Powers became president in February 2006, he promoted Vincent to the new position of vice president for diversity and community engagement.
Since arriving on campus two years ago, Vincent has hosted a series of “campus conversations” to hear concerns from students and other members of the university community. He has met with a broad range of Austin and state public officials, opinion leaders, journalists and organizations to discuss diversity and inclusion.
A History of Diversity
Vincent arrived at the University from the University of Oregon, where he had been vice provost for institutional equity and diversity and law professor since 2003. From 2000-2003, Vincent was vice provost for academic affairs and campus diversity and law professor at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, where he was vice provost for campus diversity from 1999 to 2000. Earlier, he was assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and director of the Equity and Diversity Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his law degree at the Ohio State University College of Law and his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.
Today, in addition to overseeing the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Vincent holds joint faculty appointments in the School of Law and the College of Education, where he is the W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community College Leadership. He also is an endowed faculty fellow in the Sid W. Richardson Regents Chair in Community College Leadership.
Vincent’s professorship meshes well with his duties at the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. For example, Vincent works closely with Dr. John Roueche, director of the Community College Leadership Program in the Department of Educational Administration, on mentoring graduate students, supervising doctoral dissertations, conducting symposia and guest lectures, and participating in program development. He also teaches a seminar that is cross listed in the College of Education and the Law School.
“The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement is a successful model for integrating diversity into the core mission of a university and integrating community engagement into teaching, research and service,” Vincent says. “The successful model combines both the strategic and operational responsibility for diversity and community engagement under one umbrella.”
A New Structure, A New Name
The Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement was expanded as the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement in early 2007 to closely align the university’s structure and budgets with one of its top priorities. The new division, headed by Vincent, assumed various responsibilities to help make the campus a more inviting, inclusive environment for members of the university community and for visitors. At many colleges and universities, diversity efforts are housed within small units, whereas the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement encompasses components that already existed at The University of Texas at Austin as well as ones that are new – all under one umbrella.
The University’s diversity efforts initially employed six people. Now, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, with an annual budget of $26 million, is comprised of over 200 employees in 15 departments, several research and policy institutes and numerous initiatives and projects.
The division’s work focuses on four Associate Vice President portfolios:
- Thematic Initiatives and Community Engagement is directed byDr. Edmund T. Gordon, who is an associate vice president for the division, as well as the director of the Center for African and African-American Studies and associate professor of Anthropology. This area seeks to boost and ensure academic diversity by focusing on a specific unit or area of study, such as Latin and Mexican American studies. Gordon also directs new community engagement initiatives that connect the university’s intellectual resources to addressing issues facing the state.
- Pre-College Youth Development and Student Academic Success Initiatives is directed by Dr. Wanda L. Nelson, a ssociate vice president for pre-college youth development programs and student diversity initiatives. The portfolio serves as an umbrella for a broad group of programs that offer a continuum of services from elementary through graduate school. Services are designed to help first-generation and low-income students prepare for university-level academic work and to successfully transition to the university campus and find support systems that allow them to succeed academically, develop leadership skills, explore diverse experiences in a safe environment, and ultimately graduate.
- The Texas Center for Education Policy (TCEP), directed by Dr. Angela Valenzuela, associate vice president for school partnerships and professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, is a university-wide policy center that advances research-based policies, promotes equity and excellence in public K-12 schools and higher education, and strengthens partnerships with Texas school districts. During Texas lawmakers’ 2007 session, TCEP helped craft a successful $120 million legislative package designed to sharply reduce the state’s high school dropout rate and expand support networks for at-risk students.
- Institutional Equity, directed by Linda Millstone, associate vice president for institutional equity, serves the university in fulfilling the intent and spirit of equal opportunity laws by providing equitable solutions to complaints and striving for an environment free of discrimination.
Moving Diversity Forward
“The creation of the division itself is an achievement,” Vincent says. “We are one of the most comprehensive units of its kind in higher education. That model itself is an important contribution.”
For Powers, the university’s president, this high level of diversity-related activities at the university isn’t high enough.
“While we have made progress diversifying our campus, more needs to be done. Diversity is one of my highest priorities,” Powers said during his State of the University speech in 2006.
For more information, please visit www.utexas.edu/diversity.
