By: Steve Schuster, [email protected]//March 26, 2024//
By: Steve Schuster, [email protected]//March 26, 2024//
Marquette University officials said Monday that planned changes to its leadership structure are being made “to better align with the university’s strategic plan.”
The Marquette University Provost’s Office announced Dr. Christine (Chris) Navia, vice president for inclusive excellence, will move into a new role as acting vice president for belonging and student affairs, which combines the university’s institutional diversity and inclusion and student affairs functions. Navia is slated to begin the new role on July 1.
According to officials, The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion “actively works to promote a more equitable and inclusive campus community through strategic initiatives aimed at broadening recruiting pathways for underrepresented students, faculty and staff; recognizing and celebrating the diversity of the Marquette community; and providing opportunities for education and leadership centered on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.”
According to officials, Navia is the first in her family to attend college and previously held key leadership positions within Universities of Wisconsin System administration, including as the associate vice president for student success and the interim special assistant to the president for equity, diversity and inclusion.
Navia could not be reached for comment prior to publication.
As Marquette takes this historic step, as previously reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, Republicans across the country, including in Wisconsin, have defunded Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion positions. A holocaust survivor called the recent Republican attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion reminiscent of Nazi Germany during the 1930s.
The Provost’s also noted other leadership change:
Officials noted the Title IX Coordinator and Director of Student Civil Rights Compliance Kristen Kreple will now report to the provost.
The Provost’s Office also announced the creation of a new position, chief wellness officer who will be tasked with “the development of a holistic, multidisciplinary strategy for student health and well-being, while integrating well-being into all facets of the Marquette student experience, aligning with Marquette’s new strategic plan and the early 2025 opening of the university’s integrated Wellness + Helfaer Recreation facility,” officials said.