Dear Campus Community,

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is excited to announce a name change and introduce members of the university community to our office, including our vision, mission, and responsibilities, as well as our staff members.

The former Office of Diversity and Inclusion is now the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, and it includes the Office of Intercultural Engagement and Access Programs. We believe the new name aligns with the vision for the office and our areas of focus as a team. The office is located in Howarth Hall 217.

Our mission is to work with others to provide equity, diversity and belonging across the university by honoring and building on past and current work in this area, and enacting a shared vision for the future.

Key responsibilities of this office are to:

  • Provide leadership for the university’s institutional equity and diversity initiatives, bringing together interrelated initiatives, programs, and offices into a powerful and collective whole.
  • Plan, catalyze, facilitate, organize and evaluate institutional change towards becoming an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and antiracist community.
  • Identify structural barriers (policies, procedures and practices) to the access and success of students, faculty and staff who belong to marginalized and oppressed groups.
  • Use evidence-based practices to provide intellectual leadership in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion across the university, including periodic campus climate assessments and diversity, equity and inclusion professional development opportunities.
  • Develop, facilitate, respond to and assess protocols and procedures to address reports of bias incidents/hate incidents, including prevention, education and intervention. 
  • Mentor and support those who wish to engage in a broad range of diversity, equity and belonging activism designed to bring about change.
  • Create and nurture partnerships within the Tacoma community and provide support for programs that build bridges between the university and community, such as the Tacoma Schools Public Commitment Program.

Our Staff

  • Lorna Hernandez Jarvis, Ph.D., Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity
  • Vivie Nguyen, Director for Intercultural Engagement
  • Tolu Taiwo, Assistant Director for Access Programs
  • Margo Palmer, Office Manager

Please save the date of Oct. 20, 5–7 p.m. to join us for an Equity and Diversity Town Hall meeting. More detailed information about this event is forthcoming.

I would like to also invite each of you to our Open House on Sept. 22, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Come see our new offices in Howarth 217. We look forward to seeing you here.

Sincerely,

Lorna Hernandez Jarvis, Ph.D. (She, Her, Hers)
Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity