The mission of the FIU Diversity Council is to drive the strategy toward increasing ethnic diversity and inclusion and promoting understanding within the campus community and our stakeholders. The Council will support efforts to foster accountability that will ensure respect for all students, faculty, and staff.
Specifically, the Council works to:
- Support strategies that will make FIU a leader in establishing permanent reforms to eliminate disparities that might exist in our work and learning environment.
- Examine the campus climate with a broad definition of diversity including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, economic status, and/or religious and spiritual practices.
- Make recommendations on policy-related issues including ways in which current policy and practices strengthen or detract from the diversity of the composition of the faculty, staff, and student body.
- Present recommendations to the FIU Executive Committee that include strategies, individuals responsible for specific actions, timelines for implementation, and measurable outcomes that reflect continuous improvement of campus climate and diversity and inclusion.
Meet the members of the Diversity Council
El Pagnier "EK" Hudson
Committee Chair, Sr. Vice President of Human Resources, Vice Provost of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Elizabeth Bejar
Committee Member and Faculty Administrator, Provost, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Erica Caton
Committee Member and Faculty Administrator, Director of Educational and Faculty Development, Center for the Advancement of Teaching
Candice Ammons-Blanfort
Faculty Committee Member, Assistant Teaching Professor in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Phillip Carter
Faculty Committee Member, Associate Professor in English and Linguistics; Director, Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment
Gricel Dominguez
Faculty Committee Member, Academic Librarian, Information and Research Services (BBC); Faculty Senate Representative
Phillip Lloyd Hamilton
Staff Committee Member, Assistant Vice President, Student Equity & Support; Faculty Fellow, Honors College
Hilary Landorf
Faculty Committee Member, Executive Director, Office of Global Learning Initiatives; Associate Professor, International and Intercultural Education
Pete Markowitz
Faculty Committee Member, Assistant Dean, Honors College; Professor, Physics
Martha Meyer
Faculty Committee Member, Associate Teaching Professor, Educational Policy Studies; Faculty Senate Representative
Kerrie Montgomery Orozco
Staff Committee Member, Director, Campus Life
Valerie Patterson
Faculty Committee Member, Clinical Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration; Director, African and African Diaspora Studies
Carleen Vincent-Robinson
Faculty Committee Member, Assistant Dean, Green School; Teaching Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Council Committees
The council is divided into six working committees led by a councilmember.
Education Committee
Responsible for educational events and curriculum recommendations
Led by Dr. Erica Caton and Dr. Phillip Carter
Data and Reporting Committee
Contributes to data collection, surveys and reporting
Led by Dr. Kerrie Montgomery Orozco
Policy Committee
Reviews institutional policies and makes recommendations to the council about diversity, equity and inclusion
Led by Dr. Erica Caton
Attraction, Retention, and Engagement Committee
Responsible for communication with the campus community, promoting campus-wide policies and events, and overseeing campus-wide consistency across the university on DEI matters
Marketing and Communication Committee
Responsible for communication with the campus community, promoting campus-wide policies and events, and overseeing campus-wide consistency across the university on DEI matters
Led by Dr. Phillip Carter
Health and Wellbeing Committee
Responsible for enlisting appropriate qualified support to create programming around space for intergroup/safe space dialogues, healing of racial trauma events, and/or programming toward creating a healthier campus community
Led by Carleen Vincent-Robinson
Interested in volunteering?
Email diversity@fiu.edu with your committee interests and our team will connect you with the committee lead.