Lee Gill, chief diversity officer and special assistant to the president for inclusive excellence at Clemson University, will join UofL as vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion on May 15.

With more than 25 years of experience in the diversity field, Gill currently is a member of the president鈥檚 leadership team at Clemson, where he is credited with building a sustainable infrastructure to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts into the campus culture and with creating programs that support and address the challenges facing women, Black and Hispanic students and the LGBTQ community.聽 He created the Clemson University Men of Color National Summit, which brings together more than 2,000 students, educators, business professionals, government officials and community leaders from around the country to explore issues and share best practices to increase high school and college graduation rates.

Gill serves on a number of boards of directors, including the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher 成人直播. In 2014, he received the National Diversity Visionary Award from Insight into Diversity magazine for his significant contributions to diversity in higher education.

鈥淢r. Gill鈥檚 extensive experience in building programming and weaving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts into the fabric of the universities he has served stood out among the many qualified candidates we reviewed,鈥� said Lori Stewart Gonzalez, UofL鈥檚 interim president. 鈥淗is enthusiasm is contagious, and we are excited about the advancements our campus community will make under his leadership.鈥�

Prior to joining Clemson, Gill served for eight years as associate vice president for inclusion and equity and chief diversity officer at the University of Akron. He previously had served as chief executive officer of Stratus Group Consultants Inc., a firm providing diversity audits and training, management assessments and other services. Prior to that role, he held the position of dean of the Institute for Diversity and Leadership at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

鈥淚 am excited at the opportunity of working with Interim President Gonzalez and the leadership team to help advance the DEI mission of this great university,鈥� Gill said. 鈥淪o many best practices, and national models are in place here at UofL along with an engaged faculty, staff and student body. I look forward to working with them and others to continue building a dynamic, inclusive campus community.鈥澛�

Gill holds a juris doctorate in law from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology and bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Michigan.

He succeeds V. Faye Jones, who has served as interim senior associate vice president for diversity and equity since 2019. A tenured professor of pediatrics, Jones will continue her appointments as associate vice president for health affairs 鈥� diversity initiatives at the Health Sciences Center and vice chair of inclusive excellence in the Department of Pediatrics.

鈥淒r. Jones has served the university community well in her many roles, including as interim vice president,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淲e look forward to her continuing commitment and excellent work on behalf of our students, faculty and staff. I hope the entire campus will join me in thanking her for her efforts and wishing her well.鈥�

This is the UofL has received the HEED Award.聽

INSIGHT Into Diversity also recognizes selected institutions 鈥� those that rank in the top tier of HEED Award recipients 鈥� as Diversity Champions. These institutions exemplify an unyielding commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout their campus communities, across academic programs and at the highest administrative levels. Known for visionary leadership, Diversity Champions are institutions that serve as role models and set the standard for thousands of other U.S. college campuses striving for inclusive excellence, according to the publication.

鈥淯ofL is a visionary leader among institutions of higher education striving for inclusive excellence throughout their campus,鈥� said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. 鈥淎s a Diversity Champion school, UofL exceeds everyday expectations by developing successful strategies and programs that serve as models of excellence for other higher education institutions.鈥�

As a recipient of the annual HEED Award, UofL will be featured along with 89 other recipients聽in the November 2020 HEED Award issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

鈥淲e are honored by this recognition of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, but we need to do more and go beyond this work to move toward an antiracism agenda,鈥� said V. Faye Jones, chief diversity officer and interim senior associate vice president for diversity and equity. 鈥淯ofL has pledged to take a stand against systemic racism. We will use the momentum of this time to actively engage in the ongoing hard work that is necessary to make transformational change in all areas of the institution.鈥�

This recognition comes on the heels of several other UofL diversity and inclusion achievements. In July, for example,聽UofL was identified as one of only three universities among top universities in the United States that to both Black and Latinx students, according to a new聽听谤别辫辞谤迟.

And, just last month, the 鈥溾�� report issued from the nonprofit聽Washington Monthly showed that pursing a criminal justice degree one of the 鈥渕ost enriching educations leading to well-paying jobs.鈥澛�

As Jones indicated, however, UofL’s work is far from over, and plenty of additional efforts are underway to achieve President Neeli Bendapudi’s goal of becoming the “.” For instance, anti-racism committees have been formed across campus, from the to Further, funds have been established to 聽in medicine聽while new programs have been created to , among other efforts.聽

More information about the HEED Award or the Diversity Champion recognition is available online.听听