New committee to examine diversity in faculty, administration, grad students

The Trustee Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity is charged with studying how the University can better attract and retain members of underrepresented communities on campus. The committee will be co-chaired by University trustee Brent Henry ’69 and psychology department chair Deborah Prentice. Other committee members include Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin and Vice President for Human Resources Lianne Sullivan-Crowley.

Tilghman’s charge to the committee recognized that the University has encountered “particular challenges” in building a diverse faculty, graduate student body and senior administration in the past.

Though she lauded the University’s success in diversifying the undergraduate student body, she noted in the statement that “our success in diversifying the graduate student body, faculty and senior administration has proceeded more slowly.”

When asked for specific figures on the diversity of these bodies, University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua declined to provide statistics, noting that part of the committee’s work would be to gather this demographic data on the campus community. The report released next year will feature this data, he explained.

In 2009, The Daily Princetonian reported that minorities made up 8 percent of the University senior administration. Since then, the University has named English professor Valerie Smith as dean of the college, making her one of the highest-ranking African-American administrators in University history.

Of the 27 senior administrators listed on the University Governance website, two are minorities and 14 are women.

In 2004, the University established the Diversity Working Group to examine the racial makeup of the senior administration. At the time, former Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson was the only minority senior administrator.

The working group eventually issued a report in October 2005 that called for better communication between those working in diversity offices and emphasized the development of “affinity groups,” in which employees of the same race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation can meet.

Michele Minter, the vice provost for institutional equity and diversity and secretary of the committee, said in an email that though the overall objectives of the new diversity committee and the prior working group are the same, this year’s committee has a wider focus.

“We will be building on the work of the Diversity Working Group, which collected data, conducted a climate survey and resulted in the creation of new positions and resources related to diversity,” Minter said. “The Diversity Working Group focused on the non-faculty employees of the University, and the Trustee Committee has a broader focus because it will focus on the graduate student body and the faculty as well as employees.”

Minter said there was not one specific instance or revelation of data that prompted the formation of the committee, calling it the result of “ongoing discussions.”

The committee will not address racial or gender diversity in the undergraduate student body, Minter said, explaining that the University has made significant progress in that area.