Barnard’s President Sian Beilock announced, in an email to students, the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ariana González Stokas.

In an email sent to Barnard students at 11:00 AM yesterday (May 2nd, 2019), Barnard College President Sian Beilock announced that Ariana González Stokas will fill the inaugural role of Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This is a new role for Barnard, and González Stokas will serve as its first Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. González Stokas currently serves as the Dean of Inclusive Excellence at Bard College in New York, and has also served as an assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies at Guttman Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY). She received her B.A. in philosophy and studio arts from Bard College and her Ph.D in philosophy and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her doctoral research centered on the intersections of aesthetics, education, and inequality. She will join Barnard in July.

Notably, this announcement comes shortly after an incident of racial violence in the Milstein Center, in which a student of color was physically pinned down by Barnard Public Safety.

Read the full email sent to students below:

Dear Members of the Barnard Community,

It is my pleasure to announce that Ariana González Stokas has been selected as Barnard College’s inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This appointment is the culmination of a search process conducted over the past academic year. Vice President González Stokas brings an extraordinary breadth of experience in higher education and a dedication to equity and access to this important role. She will join Barnard this July.

This is an important moment for Barnard. More than ever in our 129-year history, our students come from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences; we are focused on recruiting faculty whose backgrounds, methodological and scholarly approaches will translate into new perspectives and voices on campus; and our staff add to the richness of the College in so many ways. At the same time, we recognize the need to do better to ensure that every member of the Barnard community feels heard, respected and welcome.

It was with these considerations in mind that, roughly a year ago, we began the formal search process for the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The creation of this position was recommended by the President’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion and reinforced campuswide. The sentiment was that institutional leadership at the highest levels would help Barnard coordinate and amplify efforts across campus and enable us to become the inclusive community we aspire to be.

Over the past year, a search advisory committee – composed of students, faculty, and staff and led by Dean for Faculty Diversity and Development Monica Miller – crafted a position description, sought feedback from the community, and hosted candidates on campus. This committee both helped to define this inaugural role and find the right person for it.

Vice President González Stokas joins us from Bard College, where she currently serves as the inaugural Dean for Inclusive Excellence. As a senior diversity administrator, she works to integrate community engagement and pedagogy as essential elements in creating a more just and equitable campus. Prior to her current role at Bard, Ariana was one of 20 founding faculty at Guttman Community College of CUNY. Ariana received her B.A. in philosophy and studio arts from Bard College and her Ph.D in philosophy and education from Columbia University. She is a first-generation Puerto Rican woman who describes her family story as being defined by the struggle of women to access education.

In her new role, Vice President González Stokas will report directly to me and be an integral part of my senior leadership team. She will chair the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and work closely with the dean of faculty diversity and development and the executive director for equity, among others, to envision and actualize campuswide programs that promote diversity, establish accountability, and support inclusivity among Barnard’s community.

I would like to thank Professor Miller and the search advisory committee for their dedicated work on Barnard’s behalf. I would also like to thank Professor Yvette Christiansë for serving as interim chair of the Council, and all members of our community whose feedback helped us advance this process.

I look forward to Vice President González Stokas leading Barnard as we take an honest inventory of our own campus culture, work to build necessary supports, and create an inclusive community where all feel equally valued. I hope you will join me in warmly welcoming her to Barnard.

Sincerely,

Sian Leah Beilock, President

Barnard via Bwog Archives