Diversity Advisory Council

History

The Diversity Advisory Council (DAC) is a national volunteer body responsible for providing leadership, guidance, and feedback to the University of Rochester on diversity and inclusion initiatives for its alumni and students.

The DAC is a national volunteer body responsible for providing leadership, guidance, and feedback to the University of Rochester on diversity and inclusion initiatives for its alumni and students.

Specifically, the Council:
• Identifies specific areas of opportunity for increased representation and inclusion of diverse alumni and students.
• Serves as a central advisory body for identity-based affinity groups.
• Assesses and reports on progress of alumni and student diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Mission

The mission of the Diversity Advisory Council (DAC) is to engage diverse alumni and students in the life of the University of Rochester. The DAC will utilize its talent, energy, and resources to assist the University in developing and implementing strategies to create, maintain, and promote a truly inclusive institution.

Vision

To foster a University community that is diverse, welcoming, and inclusive for all alumni and students, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, religion, and creed.

Objectives

To realize this vision, the DAC partners with Advancement and/or campus partners to:

  1. Support the University in its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
  2. Help establish national identity-based affinity networks; serve as advisory body to networks.
  3. Assess needs and goals of diverse alumni and students through individual connections, focus groups, and benchmarking.
  4. Solicit, collect, and record updated identity data; continue to leverage the results of the 2019 Alumni Census project to inform our work and our work with campus partners.
  5. Increase the number of diverse volunteers and event attendees.
  6. Develop a sustainable Meliora Weekend diversity and inclusion events strategy to consistently provide robust and inclusive programming.

Co-chairs

Curtis Johnson ’88

Noah Pizmony-Levy Drezner ’00

Members

Jason Buitrago ’07, ’14W (MS)

Ashley Campbell ’09, ’10W (MS)

Tanya Chanphanitpornkit ’15E

Jessica Colorado ’12, ’20W (MS)

Gina Cuyler ’92M (MD), ’95M (Res)

Lance Drummond ’85S (MBA)*

Melvin Fowler Foster ’89E

Paul Gamble ’79

Josh Goldberg ’03S (MBA)

Marquis Harrison ’07

Jamal Holtz ’20

Monique Mendes ’18M (MS), ’20M (PhD)

Lisa Norwood ’86, ’95W (MS), P’13, P’20

Lizette Pérez-Deisboeck ’87*

Iveth Reynolds ’12S (MBA)

Tiffany Taylor Smith ’91

Past chairs

Lizette Pérez-Deisboeck ’87*

Lance Drummond ’85S (MBA)*

*Trustee

 

For more information, please contact the Director of Affinity Networks and Equity Diversity and Inclusion, Ghislaine Radegonde-Eison, at ghislaineradegonde-eison@rochester.edu.