Centenary’s New Dean of Diversity
Photo by Strategic Counseling Solutions
This past month, Dr. Latoya Pierce started her position as the first Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer. Dr. Pierce was previously the Director of St. Bonaventure University’s Online Master’s program in Counselor Education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Counseling from Loyola University in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Pierce has been doing diversity work for 17th years, whether as a teacher, counselor, or diversity officer. I had the pleasure of being able to interview Dr. Pierce. She excitedly told me that some of the things that excited her about her new positions were that she “loved that it was a small school.” Dr. Pierce went on to say that “when you are doing diversity work, it’s about connection and building relationships. I think that is more readily and easily done when you have a smaller group versus a really big university.”
Dr. Pierce is currently working on assessing the climate at Centenary and assessing student, faculty, and staff needs. She is looking for “transparency, accountability, and both short-term and long-term planning goals.” She wants to work with all different kinds of campus organizations, faculty, and senior management, to name a few groups. Dr. Pierce is not only here for the well-being of the students. “In this world, you need someone who is not only student-facing and who works for students and advocates for students, but who also has access because I think that is the big piece. They are accessible to students, but they also have access to the cabinet and senior management because they are a part of that. I think that it has to be that way in order to effectively function in that role.”
Dr. Pierce has a list of short-term and long-term goals she wishes to accomplish. Some of those include working with faculty and staff to recruit a more diverse environment, planning educational forums, working with Greek Life, and putting out a monthly newsletter. She also hopes to set up a scholarship for minority students. But, Dr. Pierce cannot do this alone. Some things that students can do is keep Dr. Pierce in the loop of things. “Partner with me, make sure that I’m kept in the loop. I think the way that I advocate on their behalf is to have knowledge on what is going on for students on campus.” To Dr. Pierce, diversity work is a work of “collective voices.” It is not something that one person can do, but a group of allies and advocates. Dr. Pierce is very excited about her new position.
One of the things that excites her is that it’s the first position of this kind at Centenary. “I get to create and be creative…I get to make it what I think it needs to be and what serves the campus community.” Dr. Pierce is excited about the engagement that she is receiving from students and hopes to continue hearing from students. Dr. Pierce has a long road ahead of her and understands that some of her goals will take some time, but she is confident that with the help of the Centenary community, she will thrive in her position. Welcome to Centenary Dr. Pierce!