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At Virginia Tech, Fern\u00e1ndez is a leader within the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and Office of Strategic Affairs, responsible for creating and sustaining programs that increase faculty, staff and student diversity; ensure a welcoming, affirming, safe and accessible campus climate; prepare students for service through an understanding of issues of identity and the human condition; and develop and support innovative inclusiveness programs and policies across Virginia Tech\u2019s campuses. Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s expertise is in diversity in higher education curriculum, institutional models that support student success, strategic enrollment management, alumni relations and assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo succeed in making the University as welcoming and effective as possible, the University must continue its work to identify and address our challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion,\u201d said Feldman, who served as chair of the search committee. \u201cI am confident Mercedes Ram\u00edrez Fern\u00e1ndez is the right person to lead these efforts and our new central office dedicated to building meaningful progress in these areas.\u00a0 I\u2019m thrilled she has accepted the role and know that she\u2019s ready to work with staff, faculty and students to cultivate and embrace a more inclusive, equitable, accessible and diverse University environment on many fronts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank members of the search committee and the trustee and alumni advisory committee for the time they contributed over several months that resulted in the selection of the most compelling candidate for the position,\u201d said Feldman.<\/p>\n
The vice president for equity and inclusion is the chief diversity officer for the institution and reports to the University president. Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, who formally becomes University president this summer, was also involved in selecting Fern\u00e1ndez for this leadership position.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercedes and I were colleagues a number of years ago at the University of Illinois, and I am delighted that we will be colleagues again at the University of Rochester,\u201d said Mangelsdorf. \u201cI know she will bring passion, experience, and dedication to the important work of creating the new Office of Equity and Inclusion. I look forward to supporting her efforts in every way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important step for the University,\u201d said Lance Drummond \u201985S (MBA), University Trustee and chair of the trustee and alumni advisory committee. \u201cThrough this appointment, the University is demonstrating leadership in an area that has been a key priority for President Feldman, the Board of Trustees and so many others in our community.\u00a0 I am delighted for our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends to have a strong leader in these critical efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been inspired and impressed with the quality of work already being done at the University of Rochester in the diversity and inclusion space,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cI am eager to apply my passion for social justice and my experience leading diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to the energy of a premier institution of research and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to being named associate vice provost at Virginia Tech, Fern\u00e1ndez was interim assistant chancellor and assistant provost for student diversity at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There she directed the Illinois Promise Program, supporting first-generation and low-income student success.\u00a0 She also has served as assistant dean of admissions and director of student advising and learning communities in its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and as vice chair of the chancellor\u2019s and provost\u2019s committee on race and diversity, helping advance a successful proposal to have all students take a course focusing on the lived experiences of U.S. minorities. Prior to joining Illinois, she directed living-learning communities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.<\/p>\n
She earned an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania, a master\u2019s degree in counseling from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.<\/p>\n