NIU’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Vernese Edghill-Walden, Ph.D., has been named Bucknell University’s inaugural vice president for Equity and Inclusive Excellence. Edghill-Walden will continue her role at NIU through July 7.
Vernese Edghill-Walden, who over the last eight years has helped champion NIU’s transformational diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, is headed home to her alma mater.
Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, has named Edghill-Walden, Ph.D., as its inaugural vice president for Equity and Inclusive Excellence. Edghill-Walden will continue in her role at NIU as vice president for DEI and chief diversity officer through July 7.
“A strong and visionary leader, Dr. Edghill-Walden has helped us build, operationalize and sustain a welcoming learning and working environment where students, faculty and staff are encouraged to talk openly about difficult topics, and to hear and appreciate perspectives that challenge their worldviews,” NIU President Lisa C. Freeman said.
First chief diversity officer
President Freeman hired Edghill-Walden as the university’s first chief diversity officer in 2015. A year earlier and well ahead of many peer institutions, NIU’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force had recommended creation of the position. In 2020, Edghill-Walden was promoted to vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
NIU recognized early on that diversity enriches the educational experience; promotes personal growth and a healthy society; strengthens communities and the workplace; and enhances America’s economic competitiveness. Equity gives all NIU students what they need to succeed. Inclusive environments welcome all students and help them thrive academically, personally and professionally.
“Dr. Edghill-Walden used the work of the 2014 Task Force as the foundation for a three-year plan to improve access, academic equity, inclusion and professional development and training,” President Freeman said. “With her leadership, NIU achieved those initial objectives and much more.”
NIU’s Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) now oversees each of NIU’s diversity and cultural resource centers — the Asian American Resource Center; Center for Black Studies; Gender and Sexuality Resource Center; Latino Resource Center; and Center for Undocumented Student Support.
Positive outcomes
Along with opportunities to mentor and be mentored, ADEI units provide Huskies with trainings focused on cultivating allyship to the NIU and DeKalb communities through programs such as LGBTQ+ Ally Training and Trans Ally Training and Undocumented Student Ally Training. Specifically, ADEI is focused on building an equity-minded community through its educational programs, resources, partnerships and collaborative engagement with offices, colleges and departments throughout campus.
Evolving as a leader in using an equity lens to champion the success of students from all backgrounds, NIUhas worked to embed equity-minded strategies, policies and practices into admissions and scholarships; student success and financial support; and faculty and staff excellence. Partnerships and community initiatives have promoted belonging and social justice education, including the Diversity Dialogue Series, providing opportunities for connection, conversation and celebration.
NIU’s DEI efforts have resulted in additional positive outcomes for all Huskies, including gender-inclusive restrooms; a preferred/proper name option; resources for first-generation students; inclusive access to digital course content through Blackboard Ally; a new Faculty Academy on Cultural Competence and Equity (FACCE); and expanded services to help university departments recruit a diverse and qualified pool of job candidates.
In the wake of these efforts, the university this past fall enrolled its most diverse freshman class in its history. Additionally, new freshman enrollment climbed by nearly 7% over the previous fall—the sixth straight year of increases. The freshman Huskies arrived with an impressive average high school GPA of 3.42, the highest average on record.
Numerous recognitions
Along the way, NIU also has earned state and national accolades for its DEI work. Among them:
- In both 2021 and 2022, NIU received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
- NIU is among only 46 four-year institutions saluted in the 2021 and 2022 rosters of “Great Colleges to Work For.” The university made its debut on the national list thanks to excellent results in categories of shared governance; faculty experience; and diversity, equity and belonging.
- NIU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics earned the 2022 NCAA and Minority Opportunities Athletic Association Award for Diversity and Inclusion. NIU is the first institution in the history of the award to earn the prestigious honor twice (the first in 2016).
- TheCenter for Black Studies was named Center of the Year in 2021 by the Association of Black Cultural Centers.
- The university ranks among the most LGBTQ+-friendly colleges and universities in the nation. Setting the bar for LGBTQ-inclusive polices, programs and practices, the national Campus Pride Index in 2022 awarded NIU a 5-star ranking—the highest possible rating.
- The Association of American Colleges and Universities selected NIU among a select group of “pathbreaking institutions” to host new Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers.
- The university won an Honorable Mention as part of the 2020 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education Institutional Excellence Awards. The award recognizes institutions that have demonstrated measurable progress in promoting and sustaining innovative diversity efforts within the campus community.
- NIU has been a leader in developing a specific Equity Plan as part of the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative (ILEA).In doing so, the university provided a model for other institutions to fulfill expectations put forth in “A Thriving Illinois,” the Illinois Board of Higher Education strategic plan.
“When I came here, the president and provost said to me they wanted NIU to be best in class in this area, and here we are,” Edghill-Walden said. “When the George Floyd tragedy occurred, the world’s attention turned to DEI, but NIU was already doing this work.”
Sustaining the momentum
“Vernese’s collegiality and passion will certainly be missed, but the work she championed won’t disappear,” Dr. Freeman said in a message to campus. “The seeds planted and nurtured by our community have taken root and will continue to grow.”
President Freeman noted that NIU’s commitment to DEI and belonging is now widely appreciated as integral to the university efforts. DEI and belonging initiatives are captured annually in university goals, and NIU is in the process of implementing a Shared Equity Leadership Model that commits to transformational outcomes and structural changes that enhance the excellence and success of students, faculty, staff and the university.
“This leadership framework will help us sustain our momentum and engage more campus partners as we embed equity leadership across the university community,” Dr. Freeman said. “It also makes clear that we all share responsibility for equity work.”
The president has appointed Sean Frazier, vice president and director of Athletics and Recreation, and Clint-Michael Reneau, vice president for Student Affairs, to chair a committee that will lead a national search for NIU’s next chief diversity officer.
“We will move quickly with the goal of having new leadership in place by the start of the coming fall semester,” Dr. Freeman said.
Bittersweet decision
Edghill-Walden will support the hiring of her successor and help with the leadership transition before returning to Bucknell, where she completed her undergraduate degree and discovered her passion for diversity, equity and inclusion. “That’s where I got my start and cut my teeth,” she said. “I was a junior when I decided I wanted to work in higher education.”
Bucknell approached her recently with an opportunity she could not refuse.
“Returning to my alma mater brings me full circle in my professional career and closer to my family on the East Coast,” she said. “My decision was bittersweet, one filled with much gratitude and a great sense of accomplishment.
“Being part of the Huskie family these past eight years is one of the greatest privileges of my career.”
Unwavering commitment to shared vision
Edghill-Walden credited President Freeman and the work of her ADEI team, as well as faculty, staff and students throughout campus and beyond, with NIU’s success in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
“We could not have gone this far without President Lisa Freeman,” Edghill-Walden said. “She has made our efforts to develop an integrated, campus-wide vision for diversity, equity and inclusion a high priority at NIU, which in 2015 was one of the few institutions in the state and country with a chief diversity officer in a senior leadership position. Thanks to her commitment, as well as partnerships and collaborations throughout campus and beyond, we’ve created a firm foundation for equity and inclusive excellence at NIU.”
In her final months at NIU, Edghill-Walden said she will focus her attention on:
- the hiring of a director for the Center for Black Studies and an associate director for the Black Studies minor;
- work in the community around belonging;
- development of an action plan in response to the IDEA Survey;
- and implementation of the Shared Equity Leadership Model.
Among recent DEI efforts, Associate Professor Joseph Flynn, Ph.D., was appointed in August as the university’s executive director for Equity and Inclusion. He works directly with Edghill-Walden, the president and provost to oversee initiatives designed to support faculty as they advance their knowledge of equity and inclusion.
“Dr. Edghill-Walden has been both a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion for all students and a profound mentor to many of us, including me,” Flynn said. “Her work has created truly transformational change for our campus, making NIU a national role model in the commitment to progress for us all. She will be truly missed, and I wish her the best.”
