After Touray’s Departure, Search Begins for New Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Zoe Stanton-Savitz ‘23

Via Sarah Lawrence College’s website

Sarah Lawrence College continues the search for the replacement Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion after previous VP, Fatiah Touray, stepped down at the end of the 2020 fall semester. The process began last month and president Christle Collins Judd predicts the search to conclude in time for the 2021-2022 academic year.

On Monday, February 15, president Cristle Collins Judd sent an email to the student body explaining that the college is utilizing WittKieffer to aid in the process. WittKieffer is an executive search firm, chosen after a competitive search process that began last December. According to Judd, the college selected WittKeiffer because of its strong prioritization of diversity and appreciation for liberal arts education.

Judd assured that “during the past two years, 64% of WittKieffer’s executive placements across all higher education leadership are women and/or people of color; specific to diversity, equity and inclusion leadership it is 99 percent.”

The search team is headed by WittKieffer consultant Charlene Aguilar with support from senior associate Christine Pendleton and consultant Robert Luke.

On February 25 and 26, the College held virtual community listening sessions conducted by the WittKeiffer staff in order to engage faculty and students in the search. In addition, Vice President of Administration Thomas Blum released a survey in order to reach the broader SLC community and employ their input to enhance the search. The survey will close at the end of this week.

Following Judd’s initial email, she sent another message Thursday where she released a list of faculty members and students who will serve as the search committee as the process continues.  

“Generally, response so far underscores the extent to which the community agrees that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are inextricably tied to the College’s success,” Judd said. “We heard, too, a great deal of enthusiasm about the momentum the College has built around DEI best-practice in recent years and the need to maintain that momentum.”

According to Judd, the deadline for prospective applicants is April 30 with finalists to be evaluated by early June.