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Using Diversity and Inclusion as Measures of Excellence

Founded in 1909 as an agricultural school, Arkansas State University-Jonesboro is a public institution and fl agship campus of the Arkansas State University System. Although relatively young, Arkansas State is an emerging research university with a strong history of aspiring to excellence in education, research and
community enrichment.

Vice Chancellor Rick Stripling leads the Division of Student Aff airs, comprised of 165 full-time and 100 part-time staff members across various departments within the division, including Career Services, Counseling Services, the Leadership Center, the MulticulturalCenter and the Red Wolf Campus Recreation Center, to name a few.

The Division of Student Aff airs at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro has an abiding commitment to diversity and inclusion, which is evident in their staff diversity and innovative programming. Senior student affairs administrators believe staff demographics should be similar to student body diversity.

As Associate Vice Chancellor Lonnie R. Williams states, “Having a student body with an enrollment of underrepresented groups of more than 20 percent, we deemed it imperative to have a staff that reflects these numbers and in professional roles to have an impact.”

Staff members of the division also have been able to identify this commitment. As a prospective employee, Multicultural Center Director Niya Blair found the division committed to professional and personal growth as well as advancing diversity and inclusion.

Blair offers, “The division’s leadership team takes a proactive and creative approach in advancing the institutional goals toward diversity. My experience working in the division has been rewarding and has allowed me to flourish as a professional working beside colleagues who are committed to creating an inclusive environment for staff and students.”

 

A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics
American sport has always served as a platform for resistance and has been measured and critiqued by how it responds in critical moments of racial and social crises.
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A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics