University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler on Wednesday announced the beginning of a nationwide search for a new vice president for equity and diversity. A search committee will be appointed next week, Kaler said at an equity and diversity breakfast Wednesday morning.
The OED handles disability services, equal opportunity, affirmative action, GLBT, diversity, multicultural and women’s affairs at the University.
Nancy Barcelo held the vice president position from 2006 to the summer of 2010, when she left to serve as president at Northern New Mexico College in Espanola, N.M. Kris Lockhart served in the interim since Barcelo’s departure.
Barcelo served as OED’s associate vice president from 1996 to 2001, when she left the University for five years to fight anti-affirmative action issues for the University of Washington-Seattle.
Kaler has made clear his intention to prioritize diversity at the University. By 2035, about half of the Twin Cities population will be minorities, he said in his inaugural address in September.
“I can think of no community, no challenge, no classroom that is not enhanced by diversity,” he said in the speech.