Equity Diversity And Inclusion

Vanderbilt is celebrating Women’s History Month in March with a series of events hosted by the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center. The events will focus on the theme “Women Who Tell Our Stories,” which aims to celebrate the struggles and achievements of all women from every background. Read More

Jeremi London has been named assistant provost of academic opportunity and belonging in the Office of Undergraduate Education, Vice Provost Tiffiny Tung announced today. London also joins the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering as associate professor of the practice in mechanical engineering. Her first day was Jan. 29. Read More

The Muslim Staff and Faculty Association, launching this month, is the latest employee affinity group formed to bring together faculty and staff who share interests, backgrounds, identities and common bonds.  Read More

Mohamed Abdel-Kader, MEd'04, is the chief innovation officer and executive director of the Innovation, Technology and Research Hub at the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Agency for International Development, where he enjoys solving real problems creatively while making the most of U.S. aid. Read More

Aisha Francis, president and CEO of Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology in 2021, is among the Boston Globe’s 50 Tech Power Players for 2023. With graduate degrees from Vanderbilt in English, she sought a path that was “both optimistic and realistic,” that could lead to nontraditional academic roles. Read More

Now in their 51st year on campus, 13 courageous African American students came together during the fall of 1972 to charter the first Black sorority at Vanderbilt University and what was then called George Peabody College for Teachers. Read More

School of Engineering alumnus Olatunde Osinaike is one of five winners of the 2022 National Poetry Series. His debut collection, 'Tender Headed,' is being published by Akashic Press in December. He will be on campus for an alumni reading event Oct. 24, co-sponsored by the Vanderbilt Creative Writing Program and the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. He returns to Nashville Jan. 25, 2024, for a reading with The Porch, a literary nonprofit. Read More

The program is designed to host a cohort of thought leaders with competing and sometimes conflicting views on policy issues and social problems. These visitors will engage with students, faculty, the public and each other to model reasoned, evidence-based civil debate. The first public event sponsored by the program will be on Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. Read More

The Vanderbilt University Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center hosted its annual Family Welcome and Harambee March on Saturday, Aug. 19. More than 200 first-year students of color and their families marched across campus to the beat of African drummers and the cheers of upper-division students, faculty, staff and alumni. Read More

Vanderbilt University is expanding its nearly 35-year partnership with The Posse Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that teams up with selective colleges and universities in the United States to provide student scholarships and leadership training. Read More

Derrick R. Spires, an associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University, has a talent for making 19th-century newspapers and pamphlets feel as accessible as the latest social media feed. He explores the culture of the early 19th-century Black press in his 2019 book 'The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States' (University of Pennsylvania Press), which was recently released in paperback. Read More

Join Dr. Andre L. Churchwell and Dr. Harold J. Bursztajn for "Black and Jewish Allyship: A Personal Story." The talk will take place April 13 from 6 - 7 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge at the Center for Spiritual and Religious Life.  Read More

Class of 2023: Learn why actor and playwright Taylor Rasmussen left the bright lights of New York City to follow a new dream of effecting positive change through business. But this isn’t fiction. It’s the life of Taylor Rasmussen, MBA’23. Read More

As part of Women’s History Month, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center will host automotive educator Chaya Milchtein, who will present a workshop on car maintenance on Wednesday, March 29. The session, which is a part of the Women’s Center’s series “Grown-ish: Skills for Life,” will happen over Zoom at 4 p.m.  Read More

Emmy Award–winning journalist Byron Pitts, co-host of ABC’s Nightline, will be the keynote speaker for Vanderbilt’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorative event on Monday, Jan. 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Blair School of Music’s Ingram Hall. Other activities planned for VU’s commemoration include a Joint Day of Service on Saturday, Jan. 14, and the Nashville MLK Day March and Convocation on Monday morning. Read More

Blair alumna Krystal Grant Folkestad uses her musical skills to serve multiple audiences while focusing on how life affects art and art influences activism.  Read More

The Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will launch two new Employee Affinity Groups as part of an ongoing initiative to support university employees. Read More

The Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, in collaboration with the undergraduate student organizations FirstVU and QuestBridge Vanderbilt as well as the Network First-Gen initiative, invites members of the Vanderbilt community to participate in First-Generation Appreciation Week Nov. 3–11. Read More

Dr. André L. Churchwell, vice chancellor for outreach, inclusion and belonging and chief diversity officer, hosted a panel of Vanderbilt faculty earlier this fall to discuss the state of racial justice in America. Among the topics covered was how art can offer hope during unsettled times and help create a more just, civil and moral society. Read More

Dr. André L. Churchwell, vice chancellor for outreach, inclusion and belonging and chief diversity officer at Vanderbilt University, has been named a Top 25 Diversity Leader for 2022 by Modern Healthcare magazine. Read More