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UF Taps Proven Leader As its First Chief Diversity Officer

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The University of Florida has named Antonio Farias, currently vice president for equity and inclusion/Title IX officer at Wesleyan University, as its first chief diversity officer and senior advisor to the president.

Farias will assume the new post effective July 9. His annual salary will be $280,000.

In his new position, Farias, 52, will hold a cabinet-level spot while overseeing universitywide efforts to advance equity, diversity and inclusion, and establish a new standard of inclusive excellence. 

“I am thrilled that Antonio will be joining the University of Florida,” UF President Kent Fuchs said. “He has a strong track record and enjoys tremendous respect at a national level. We created this position because UF, like many other Southern universities, has a legacy that includes not always welcoming people of diverse backgrounds. This is a significant step in addressing the cultural changes that must continue to take place at the University of Florida. Antonio is well-equipped to tackle these challenges.” 

At Wesleyan, where he has worked since 2013, Farias has worked closely with the offices of Academic Affairs, Admissions, Student Affairs, and University Relations on issues of inclusion and equity as they relate to race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, political affiliation, and national origin in the areas of recruitment, admission, retention, hires, promotion, and fundraising. He has been responsible for maintaining proper university reporting procedures and policies as they pertain to federal and state laws. 

From 2005 to 2013, Farias was chief diversity officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where as the inaugural CDO, he helped develop a metrics-driven, leadership and values centered inclusion and diversity strategy for the academy that eventually shaped strategy for the 47,000-member organization. He also developed retention programs for faculty as well as students of color, first-generation students, women, LGBTQ, and students of various faith/non-faith backgrounds; implemented pre-orientation programs for first-generation and students of color; and conducted inclusion and diversity workshops throughout the Coast Guard leadership framework. Prior to that, he held positions at Mercy College, Hunter College and Colgate University, all in New York.

 “As a product of public education, and an educator who has been graced with seeing real lives impacted by educational opportunities, I’m deeply honored to have been selected as the inaugural CDO at a time when UF is poised to make the next great leap in excellence. My wife and I very much look forward to fully immersing ourselves in the Gainesville community and contributing to the Gator Good.”

Farias said he looks forward to meeting with UF student, faculty and staff and members of the Gainesville community soon after his arrival.

Farias holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and a master’s degree in comparative ethnic studies, both from the University of California, Berkeley. He later earned a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside.

Contact: Steve Orlando, 352-846-3903, [email protected]

University of Florida News Center http://www.news.ufl.edu| [email protected]| 352-846-3903

Stetson University Magazine Spotlights Diversity, Inclusion

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Focuses on challenges, solutions for students, faculty

Alex Greene found a doorway out of his crime-ridden neighborhood in Atlanta and has an inspiring story to tell about overcoming adversity and poverty. He graduated No. 2 in his high school class, earned a Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship and graduated from Stetson in December 2016 — the first in his family — with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He hopes to attend graduate school and work for the FBI.
Greene is an anomaly. According to one study by the U.S. Department of Education, just 12.6 percent of African-Americans of low socioeconomic status earn a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Such a disparity has fueled a movement for social justice in education that Greene’s mentor, Stetson Associate Professor of Education Rajni Shankar-Brown, Ph.D., has made her life’s work. Shankar-Brown teaches Stetson students about the need for social justice in education and the vast inequities borne by students of color and in poverty. Also, she brings children from a high-poverty elementary school in DeLand to Stetson each year, encouraging them to excel in school, be positive change agents and build a better world.
Greene and Shankar-Brown are among the many Hatters with real struggles, with potential solutions and with incredible energy. During a time when diversity and inclusion are concerns at the forefront of the finest universities nationwide, each is proving to have a voice and a vision.
They and others are among the highlights of the Winter 2017 edition of Stetson University Magazine, which is dedicated to diversity, inclusion, respect and equity.
Patrick Coggins, Ph.D., chair of the university’s Faculty Senate and a professor in the Department of Education, grew up in a society where all people were valued and encouraged to be inclusive. Born in Guyana, he uses his life experiences, along with his extensive academic background, to make students more aware of their worldviews and how those views impact others around them.
Huyen Le was about to become a statistic. In Stetson’s voluminous Campus Climate Study unveiled in fall 2016, among the revelations were disproportionate struggles by students during their first year on campus. In fall 2014, Le was one of them and, in the midst of only her first semester, was almost ready to transfer.
Today, largely thanks to SU First Peer Mentor Program for first-generation college students at the Cross Cultural Center on Stetson’s DeLand campus, Le has emerged as a leader and is now president of Stetson’s Asian Pacific American Coalition.
“There must be continual advancement,” wrote Stetson University President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D., in her welcome message. Paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr., she added that the “arc bending toward justice cannot be too long, or progress will not be felt.”
Another featured article reveals that three Stetson alumni debuted in fall 2016 at top opera houses worldwide in what School of Music Dean Tom Masse, D.M.A., described as a “remarkable” first.
View the digital version of the four-color, 68-page magazine here.