Students gathered with the new Chief Diversity Officer
The Minnesota State system office has announced that Dr. Clyde Wilson Pickett (fifth from the left) from the Community College system of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania will be the new Chief Diversity Officer of the system. LeadMN is excited to welcome Dr. Pickett and is excited to work with him this school year.
LeadMN students first met Dr. Pickett at the Chief Diversity Officer finalists’ public forums hosted on August 14, 2017. Students had prepared for the forums by brainstorming questions to ask the finalists. LeadMN President Isaac Jahraus also got to know Dr. Pickett on a more personal level through a candidate lunch.
From these opportunites LeadMN got to learn more about Dr. Pickett’s visions and goals for the system. Some of the key points Dr. Pickett mentioned included: increasing communication between key stakeholders and student unions, implementing system-wide outcomes for inclusion, the need to focus on completion rates for students of color, and the importance of bias response strategies. Students also appreciated Dr. Pickett’s comments on the events that took place in Charlottesville and his belief that institutions must have a proactive approach to addressing similar acts on our campuses.
In describing his experiences implementing equity at a system level, Dr. Pickett recalled his work with the Achieving the Dream initiative in Pennsylvania. Dr. Pickett worked towards reaching national benchmarks of success for students of color and low socioeconomic status and lead the creation of initiatives scaled to the specific needs and resources available at each campus.
LeadMN congratulates Dr. Pickett on his new role and looks forward to collaborating to prioritize and advance equity in our system. LeadMN would like to thank all students who participated in the search and hiring process: Isaac Jahraus, Cecilia Damian, Chelsea Self, Tavion Tran, Frankie Becerra, Dillon Forcier, Amethyst O'Connell, as well as students who participated in the forums via Skype. We would also like to thank Elizabeth Zalanga for being on the search committee throughout the summer. This group played a critical role to make sure that students had a voice in the hiring process.