Evergreen Hires First-Ever Vice President for Equity and Inclusion

After a national search, The Evergreen State College will hire Chassity Holliman-Douglas as the college’s new Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion, the college announced today. Holliman-Douglas will lead and strengthen Evergreen’s work to embrace equity and foster inclusion for students, staff and faculty. She will join the college at the start of the 2017–2018 academic year.

“This is an essential leadership position, and Dr. Holliman-Douglas has a strong record of achievement in advocating for students and developing initiatives to eliminate equity gaps,” said Evergreen President George Bridges. “Her leadership, and the engagement of the entire college, will be crucial to ensuring all students are able to thrive at Evergreen.”

Holliman-Douglas will oversee Evergreen’s progress toward equity and inclusion, which includes guiding campus-wide work to develop infrastructure, curricula and initiatives that support the growth and success of all students, faculty, and staff with particular emphasis on underrepresented and marginalized communities. She will provide strategic and operational leadership across the college, with a special focus on building services and programs that mentor and improve educational success and outcomes for all students.

At the University of Kentucky, Holliman-Douglas currently serves as Director of the Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives. In this role, she has developed successful recruitment and retention strategies for underrepresented students, trained college-level diversity officers and served as a university trainer on unconscious bias. She has also managed the daily operations of two student success centers that provide mentoring, professional development, and academic support.

As an adjunct faculty member and diversity professional, Holliman-Douglas has developed and taught workshops that facilitate conversations across difference. Her research focuses on the impact of intergroup dialogue and the development of cultural competence. Prior to the University of Kentucky, Holliman-Douglas worked in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System in student development and enrollment management.

A native of Tennessee, she received a Bachelor of Arts from Western Kentucky University, a Master of Science from Murray State University, and a Doctorate of Education from Eastern Kentucky University. Holliman-Douglas is a current member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the Critical Trajectory Diversity Officer Learning Circle, the National Association of Student Personal Administrators, and an initiate of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

“I look forward to joining the Evergreen family and advancing the necessary work to ensure Evergreen students can learn in an environment that is supportive and nurturing of all identities, backgrounds, and walks of life,” said Holliman-Douglas. “In partnership with President Bridges, other leaders, faculty, staff and students, together we will work diligently to build a place where everyone at Evergreen feels, and most importantly believes, that they belong. This is vital work, and I’m dedicated to leading the design and delivery of equitable and inclusive practices at Evergreen.”