UW-EC announces interim EDI leadership

The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

Nov. 18—EAU CLAIRE — Following the tumultuous departure of Olga Diaz from the role of UW-Eau Claire's vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Student Affairs, two interim leadership positions have been filled in the newly separated division of EDI on campus, the university announced Friday.

Teresa O'Halloran, campus affirmative action officer and Title IX administrator, has been named interim assistant chancellor for EDI and Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, professor of history, will serve as interim executive director for EDI engagement.

According to the university, Chancellor James Schmidt says he made these critical appointments with the help of an advisory review team composed of faculty, staff and students, including members of shared governance and the EDI division.

"Our priority for this interim period of 18 months is to reaffirm our commitment to eliminating the opportunity gap for our students of color and other underrepresented groups," Schmidt said in a news release. "Secondly, it is essential that all of us are working to provide our students with the level of cultural competence that they must have to be successful in their future communities and careers."

Also in the news release, Schmidt said both O'Halloran and Ducksworth-Lawton bring to their new roles a long history of leadership and relationship building across campus.

O'Halloran will serve in the assistant chancellor position through the summer of 2024, the university stated, overseeing the EDI division and reporting to the chancellor. In this role, she will lead EDI conversations and form a new EDI Advisory Council that will be "broadly representative" of campus constituents and provide direct counsel to the division.

"I appreciate the chancellor's and the advisory committee's confidence in me," O'Halloran said in the news release. "I look forward to working with colleagues across our Eau Claire, Rice Lake and Marshfield campuses to fine-tune our policies and practices in order to more effectively meet our immediate needs and our long-term goals in equity, diversity and inclusion."

Ducksworth-Lawton has been a campus and community leader in EDI for almost 30 years, the university stated. Her work has earned her campus, local, state and UW System recognition, earning in 2021 both the UW-Eau Claire Martin Luther King Social Justice Leadership Award and the UW System's Board of Regents Diversity Award.

In this new role, Ducksworth-Lawton will support faculty engagement in meeting campus EDI goals, working in close coordination with the provost to remain connected to the academic division of the university, the university stated.

Additionally, she will supervise the Center for EDI Training, Development and Education, and the Center for Racial and Restorative Justice, providing an important liaison to Academic Affairs for those units. This executive director position reports to O'Halloran and also will join the chancellor's executive team, which meets monthly.

"I'm grateful for this opportunity to work on these issues with all of our amazing students, faculty and staff," Ducksworth-Lawton said in the news release. "I'm hopeful that we will be able to bridge the gaps while creating a little more unity and understanding across campus."

O'Halloran has already assumed the duties of her new position. Ducksworth-Lawton will step into her interim role after the end of her fall semester classroom teaching responsibilities.