By: Jessica Griggs ~Campus News Editor~

Xavier is looking to hire a new “Assistant to the President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.” According to Lori Johnson and Dr. Kathleen Smythe, cochairs for the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer search, the new hire is the most noticeable part of a campaign for changes that has lasted for several years.

Described as a “reimagining of an existing position that has been vacant,” the addition of a new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer is only a piece of the process on campus meant to “assess our progress and identify the ways in which we can be most successful moving forward.”

In addition to the new hire, a President’s Advisory and Action Committee on Diversity will be created and led by the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. The aim in hiring a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer is to ensure that Xavier remains faithful to its mission as a Jesuit Catholic University to promote diversity, inclusivity and community.

Monitoring campus climate and collaborating with campus constituents will fall under the responsibilities of the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer in order “to further develop our leaders, managers, faculty and staff intercultural competencies.” Oversight of the Multicultural, Gender and Women’s Center will also be a responsibility of this position.

The new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer needs to be a senior level diversity administrator with experience in strategic planning and execution. Required skills include managing a staff and working well with faculty, staff, students and administrators “to diversify an institution and to make it more inclusive.”

“As members of an increasingly interconnected and globalized world, Xavier’s success in the future is partly dependent on our capacity both institutionally as well as through our educational mission to embrace and engage diversity,” Johnson said in an email.