Diversity — probably one of the most elastic and debated terms around today. Yet, with its wide and growing usage, much confusion still exists as to what it means in a practical and meaningful way. Instead of debating what it is and what it’s not, the editors of Diverse have decided to bring you an ongoing series of brief portraits that give clear indication that in many corners of U.S. higher education institutions and individuals are forging ahead with innovative, bold and consequential approaches to achieving a more inclusive society. They are also demonstrating that they are leaders in the truest sense of the word. During the coming months, you will be inspired by what you read in Diverse because those featured are indeed Champions of Diversity both in word and deed.
The Brown Corporation
In November 2000, the 54 officers of the Brown Corporation voted to name Dr. Ruth Simmons the 18th president of Brown University, making her the first Black president of an Ivy League institution. The Brown Corporation officers said at the time that Simmons had not only impressed them by her accomplishments but added that her extraordinary life story would set an example for the Brown student body.
On July 3, 2001, Simmons, the youngest of 12 children born in a poor Texas sharecropping family, was sworn in as Brown’s president. Since the historic appointment, the university has fared well under her tenure with faculty expansion underway, increased financial support of undergraduate and graduate students, improved facilities and a strengthened commitment to diversity.
Call Me Mister *
In 1998, less than 1 percent, or fewer than 200, of South Carolina’s 20,300 elementary school teachers were Black men. To address this crisis, Clemson University and three historically Black colleges and universities launched Call Me Mister, a national initiative designed to increase the number of Black male teachers matriculating into elementary school classrooms.
