Our Team

Since 2016, our team has grown from 4 to over 20, with offices now leading the campus in student research and leadership development, workforce equity, and faculty recruitment, engagement, and retention work.

T

he Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) was founded in 2016. Previously, the college was primarily focused on enrolling students from different backgrounds and supporting student affinity groups. Since the Office’s founding, we have increased our scope to include learning and development opportunities for faculty and staff, engaging alumni of color, searching to give voice to issues of student equity inside and outside the classroom, and encouraging data-driven decision-making in our planning and program design.

Working against forces who would seek to erase the contributions of underrepresented and marginalized communities, we collaborate with partners across the campus community to tell a fuller history of the College.

Two students laughing and sitting together in Johnson Chapel

Mission & Principles

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI) works collaboratively to support and sustain the growth of a just, equitable, vibrant, and intellectually challenging educational environment, and a culture of critical and compassionate campus engagement.

A photo of Norm Jones talking

Our Dedication

We are dedicated to improving the accessibility of our shared physical and virtual campus environment and to reducing the harms of ableism on persons with disabilities. We are dedicated to the important work of environmental sustainability and justice and the impact of human behavior on our shared space.

A group of students with their arms around each other holding food

Areas of Focus

ODEI focuses on the following areas of engagement and development: a thriving community; bridging theory & practice; inclusive recruitment and retention; and systemic and progressive change.

A photo of Norm Jones Diversity and inclusion must move beyond the traditional mosaic approach of just having more marginalized faces in traditional spaces, it must also call us into quarters where equity is only advanced through process, policy, and structure.”
—NORM JONES, Inaugural Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer (2016 - 2021)

Tracking Equity

We now track equity through the use of dashboards to measure progress on our goals, execute an annual research agenda dedicated to the most critical equity goals (e.g., ensuring equal access to our open curriculum, reducing bias in search processes, providing adequate diversity training for leaders among faculty, students, and staff, providing equal opportunity for alumni to engage with the College through service and giving), and consistently communicate between and among committees who govern equity and inclusion work at the College. Our new trustee committee on equity, diversity, and inclusion offers new leadership that more intentionally centers the priorities that our work requires.

A Black man and two Black woman speaking at an event

The Center for Restorative Practices

The Center for Restorative Practices at Amherst College aspires to foster an inclusive, engaging campus climate where students develop the tools necessary to engage in meaningful, restorative dialogue around both community and conflict.

CRP Website

Wade Fellowship

A photo of Nadia Biassou

2019-21 Wade Fellow, Nadia Biassou

The Wade Fellows Program was established in 1976 in honor of Harold Wade, Jr. ’68. While a student, Harold Wade, Jr. worked to strengthen the black community at Amherst, including organizing the Afro American Society and initiating recruitment materials aimed at attracting black high school students to Amherst. Since 1977, black alumni Wade Fellows have returned to campus to engage with current students as informal career counselors, mentors, and role models.

Wade Fellows provide a meaningful and important voice in ongoing diversity and inclusion work, the career development needs of Amherst students, and in strengthening the alumni network connection between black alumni and students.

Community Resources

Office Hours

Angie Tissi-Gassoway:

Please contact Carolyn Coulter, executive assistant to the CEIO, ccoulter@amherst.edu or odei@amherst.edu 

to schedule a time to meet with the CEIO.

Additional Resources

EEO Statement

Amherst College does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs and activities on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex or gender (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity), age, disability, genetic information, military service, or any other characteristic or class protected under applicable federal, state or local law. Amherst College complies with all state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.