Renowned poet and former Bates College english professor Crystal Williams started as Boston University’s first-ever associate provost for diversity and inclusion last Monday. Williams will be in charge of developing programs and practices that will help the university and its faculty establish a framework for further diversity.
Williams’ hiring comes as a result of the university’s need to develop greater diversity and inclusion among its students and faculty, according to BU provost and chief academic officer Jean Morrison.
Universities throughout the country have begun to implement positions similar to that of Williams, Morrison said, which is crucial to establishing a healthy and open climate on campus.
“Lots of universities have created this position,” Morrison said, “recognizing that … having programs and activities and effort to help create a culture and climate … that is welcoming and open really requires a person charged with that responsibility to effectively lead the effort.”
BU has had similar positions in the past, according to Morrison. Julie Sandell, the current associate provost for faculty affairs, was formerly in charge of both faculty and diversity, but the university found that handling both sectors was too much for one person to do alone.
In 2012, the university’s Faculty Council published a report recommending the hiring of an associate provost for diversity and inclusion, according to Morison, as did a 2016 task force on diversity and inclusion. Sandell chaired the search committee that decided to hire Williams this year.
Williams is tasked with building upon the university’s prior efforts toward greater diversity and inclusion and to develop supplementary programs that will push the university to the next level.
“Already, Provost Morrison and Associate Provost Sandell have done a great deal of work,” Williams wrote in an email. “My goal will be to build on their forward momentum, to help develop additional university practices and programs and to work with the deans at the college/school level to help them engage in this area.”
Williams said she is coming into her new role determined to bring further diversity to BU, and she is excited to help the university institute a greater sense of inclusion that will allow it to thrive in today’s heterogeneous society.
“[We] are eager … to work more assiduously to ensure that BU’s faculty, students and staff reflect the great and exciting pluralism in our country and world,” Williams wrote, “thereby ensuring our continued excellence, and to develop and build upon those practices and programs that will strengthen BU and its commitment to becoming more diverse and inclusive.”
The need for greater diversity on campus is not just about the numbers — it is about establishing a system in which students and faculty can look to and rely on each other for new perspectives and opportunities, according to Williams.
“Part of the power of any educational institution [is] our interdependencies,” the Detroit native wrote in an email. “That is precisely why having a broadly diverse student, staff and faculty body is important. It is why having multiple viewpoints in any given room — classroom, conference room, boardroom — is imperative.”
Several students said they believe the establishment of Williams’ new position is necessary, given the current political climate.
Chloe Kaubisch, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said she thinks the implementation of the new position is imperative to establishing greater cultural familiarity across campus.
“I think [Williams’ hiring] was necessary, given the current political climate,” Kaubisch said. “I hope she’s able to identify where [diversity] is needed the most.”
Hannalea Resnik, a College of Communication junior, said she likes the new position because she thinks it will elicit an even stronger focus on campus diversity and inclusion.
“I definitely think [the position] is very necessary,” Resnik said. “Especially with everything that’s going on. [On] college campuses, we tend to do pretty well with [diversity], but it’s still an important thing to focus on.”
Bofan Zhang, a sophomore in CAS, said he thinks the hiring of Williams will foster a stronger sense of unity on campus.
“I think [Williams’ hiring] is good for the [campus] environment,” Chang said. “We have to do something to bring us together.”
