Diversity, inclusion candidates visit campus

Four qualified individuals considered for vice president position

Administrative officials will soon decide the best candidate for vice president of diversity and inclusion.

The candidates recently visited campus to lead student forums about their ideas, answer questions, and receive feedback on the hiring process from the students.

Trae Trousdale, political science/mass communications junior, was present at all of the forums and is a member of the hiring committee. 

He said he recognizes the challenge that comes with deciding the candidate.

“It’s going to be hard to pick this position, and there is no wrong choice. President Burger cannot make a wrong choice,” he said. “It truly is just picking the personality and leadership style that we would like to add to OCU.”

Trousdale said he has been part of the hiring process since applications started coming in.

“We had over 100 applications for this position at OCU,” Trousdale said. “Coming to these final four, it has definitely been a journey.”

The candidates currently under consideration are former state senator Angela Monson, Dr. Jobi Martinez, Dr. Talia Carroll and Dr. Terrence Mitchell.

Trousdale said the job of vice president of diversity and inclusion is not an easy position to take on.

“We are asking one candidate to be able to go from sitting with President Burger, having a discussion about how are we diversifying the board of trustees (that came up at one of the student sessions), to someone who can go to a BSA meeting at 8 o’clock on a Thursday evening and be able to walk into that space, be accepted by the students and leave that space with the advocacy background necessary to make institutional change for the students,” he said. “We’re looking for a unicorn of a candidate.”

Jessica Martinez-Brooks, interim diversity and inclusion advocate, said her experience in her role has made her aware of what skills are needed for the position.

“We were looking for somebody who was a strong relationship builder, somebody who had experience doing diversity and inclusion work, and, it wasn’t a mandatory thing, but we really wanted to see somebody who had been doing work in a higher education setting,” she said. “Somebody who had been effective in leading systematic change on a college campus.”

Trousdale said Monson’s strength will be fostering a community environment on campus.

“I think her largest strength lies in her relationship to Oklahoma and Oklahoma City,” he said.

Trousdale said Martinez has plenty of experience in academics in relation to diversity and inclusion.

“Dr. Martinez is definitely the more academic presentation of our candidates. She touched on her dissertation paper. She has a strong communications background. It is something she has studied in her Ph.D. program and as an undergraduate student. She actually studied the use of social media and how we frame chief diversity officer conversations,” he said. “I think that’s probably her strong suit.”

Trousdale said Carroll had the most experience with interacting directly with students.

“I think Dr. Carroll’s strength lies in her relationship building,” he said. “Something that I took away from the students I talked to yesterday is they felt most comfortable with Dr. Carroll, and I think that her background sort of lends to that.”

Mitchell, however, was unlike any of the other candidates, Trousdale said.

“He draws tenets from each of the strengths of the other candidates. He believes in focusing on community and formulating those partnerships that are necessary for OCU’s success, but I think that he is dedicated, as they all are, to the academic rigor, the curriculum, as well as the student experience that we have,” he said. “Dr. Mitchell specifically brings a lot of life experience.”

The hiring committee will meet today to discuss the forums and student feedback and pick their suggestion for President Burger to decide who will fill the position. According to Trousdale, the decision will be made by the end of the semester.