Grand Rapids Community College is looking for a new Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer to oversee the Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center for Equity and Inclusion and continue the school’s efforts to remain a leader in equity and inclusion.
To find the right candidate, the school’s administration has scheduled a series of community forums to introduce the candidates which will aid in picking the final candidate for the position. The community forums begin Monday, Oct. 1 with B. Afeni McNeely Cobham, an associate professor at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. The community forum is scheduled to take place from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in room 168 of the Applied Technology Center.
The community forums continue on Oct. 3 in room 168 of the ATC with Jessica Cruz, the chief diversity and inclusion officer at Northern Michigan University. Following Cruz is Dwight Hamilton on Oct. 9 in room 124 of the ATC. Hamilton is the chief diversity officer at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago. Closing the community forums is Salvador Lopez, the associate director of diversity recruitment at Grand Valley State University, on Oct. 10 in room 124 of the ATC.
The position is an integral part of the college, according to GRCC President Bill Pink.
“This is important because of what we know today about challenges in our region and our state around disparities, particularly in terms of education and the workforce,” Pink stated in a press release about the community forums. “We need to make sure as this community’s college, we’re proactively doing our part to provide an education that is inclusive and equitable for everyone – for students, employees and our community partners. We’ve done good work in this area, but there is more to do.”
The chief equity and inclusion officer position has been vacant since July 1, 2018 after former Director of the Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center for Equity and Inclusion, Domingo Hernandez-Gomez, left for another opportunity outside of GRCC on June 30.
