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Tech names a new vice president |
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Tech names a new vice president
Kevin McDonald, at the university since 2005, will be vice president for multicultural affairs.
By Greg Esposito | The Roanoke Times
Greg Eposito | The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech has a new vice president for multicultural affairs.
Kevin McDonald, director of Tech's office for equal opportunity, will begin his new role June 25. He replaces Benjamin Dixon, who served as the university's first vice president for multicultural affairs from 1998 until the end of 2006, when he retired.
McDonald, 35, has been director of the office for equal opportunity since 2005. Before that he oversaw equal opportunity compliance at Johns Hopkins University from 2001 to 2005. He also managed investigations into campus discrimination complaints at the University of Maryland.
In his role at Tech he developed Project Lead, a pipeline program focusing on minority high school students. He also established a social justice mediation program.
McDonald served on Tech's Task Force on Race and the Institution. The group was formed in August in response to problems with diversity and campus climate, highlighted by protests on campus in April 2006. Tech has lagged behind other universities in the state in black enrollment and number of black faculty in recent years.
The task force made 20 recommendations that university staff will look at implementing this summer.
McDonald said he's hopeful those recommendations will have a positive impact on the university. He worked closely with Dixon before his retirement and said he hopes to build on the foundation he established.
"I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead," he said.
McDonald grew up in Cleveland and earned a bachelor's degree from Andrews University in Michigan and a law degree from Ohio State University.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/120866
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