Latest Town Hall addressed inclusion, diversity, and equity on campus

October 30, 2018 Troy Watkins Uncategorized 0

Campus Globe

On Oct. 26, President Ramon Torrecilha led a Town Hall meeting attended by faculty, staff and students that focused on inclusion, diversity, and equity on campus.

Much of the meeting centered on the “The New Normal” report presented to Westfield State by diversity consultant Dr. William Lewis. Dr. Lewis spent a week on campus in March 2018 following the University enduring more than 25 incidents of bias and hate over the fall 2017 semester.

President Torrecilha encouraged the adoption of “Inclusion Everyday” by the full campus community. This concept was introduced in Dr. Lewis’ report and as a way to infuse inclusion while the University works to improve diversity in the student, faculty, and staff populations. According to President Torrecilha, “Inclusion Everyday” puts the responsibility of inclusion on the University as a whole, rather than on the shoulders of a few.

Assistant Vice President of Human Resources Dr. Jalisa Williams joined President Torrecilha to present changes within the Human Resources Office made to better institutionalize the University’s commitment to inclusion and diversity. Dr. Williams explained that:

  1. The Office of Human Resources has been renamed the Office of Human Resources, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity;
  2. A new Diversity Officer position has been added to the Office, reporting to Dr. Williams, with dotted line reporting to President Torrecilha; and
  3. The positions and areas reporting into the new Diversity Officer position include Faculty Fellow Program, the Inclusion & Diversity Office, and an investigator position (for the purposes of Affirmative Action, Equality Opportunity & Title IX).

Click here for the organizational chart that summarizes the above changes.

President Torrecilha then led a conversation that summarized the 12 recommendations set forth in Dr. Lewis’ “The New Normal” report. He asked those in attendance to share their thoughts on what among the 12 should be prioritized as most important.

Look in future issues of NewsWise for a link to a video recording of the event.