Dr. Ariana González Stokas, the Dean of Inclusive Excellence at Bard College, will become Barnard College’s inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in July.
Dr. Ariana González StokasGonzález Stokas will report to president Dr. Sian Leah Beilock and work with campus constituencies, leading initiatives that cultivate a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. She will chair the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and work closely with the executive director for equity, the dean of faculty diversity and development and others to create programs that promote diversity, establish accountability and support inclusivity campuswide.
Barnard recently accepted the most selective and diverse class in its 129-year history. The incoming freshman class represents nearly every state and 60 countries while half identify as women of color and 13 percent as first-generation college students.
Beilock called the new appointment “an important moment for the college. More than ever…our students come from diverse backgrounds, adding to the richness of the Barnard experience. And we are focused on recruiting faculty whose backgrounds, methodological and scholarly approaches will translate into new perspectives and voices on campus. At the same time, we recognize that the work of inclusion is ongoing, and we need to continually work to transform institutional systems and structures.”
González Stokas, who is of Puerto Rican lineage, has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and studio arts from Bard. Her Ph.D. is in philosophy and education from Columbia University’s Teachers College, where her doctoral research explored the intersections of aesthetics, education and inequality.
