Office of the President

Invitation to Foster Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Cal Poly Pomona

September 20, 2022

Dear Cal Poly Pomona Community:

I am pleased to invite the campus community to a conversation with Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal — a nationally recognized leader in fostering equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in higher education — on Tuesday, September 27, from noon to 1 p.m. in Ursa Minor and via livestream. 

Dr. Villarreal was invited by the search committee for our presidential associate for inclusion and chief diversity officer (CDO) to share her insights and experiences leading meaningful institutional transformation as a means to inform our collective understanding of effective EDI leadership, as well as to challenge us to think critically about our campus priorities and the role of the CDO. 

Dr. Villarreal serves as the inaugural vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion at the University of Utah, where she provides strategic oversight of diversity and inclusion initiatives across their academic and health sciences campuses. Having previously served in a leadership role at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Villarreal’s professional experiences both at Utah and within the CSU will help to inform our own institutional efforts to strengthen inclusive excellence at Cal Poly Pomona. In addition to her presentation, Dr. Villarreal will engage in discussions with a variety of campus stakeholders, including ASI and the Academic Senate.

Last May, I announced that notwithstanding the outstanding work of our search committee in engaging and evaluating potential candidates, we were ultimately unsuccessful in recruiting an incumbent for our CDO role. Thanks to the continual dedication of the committee, the search has advanced swiftly, and we look forward to hosting finalists during the first week of October. It is our hope that Dr. Villarreal’s engagement with our campus community will raise awareness, prompt reflection and encourage participation in the final stages of the search process to identify the incumbent for this critical leadership position.

I hope you will join us on September 27, for this important opportunity to further our EDI efforts at Cal Poly Pomona.

To attend in person, please register at: https://www.cpp.edu/inclusive-excellence/mary-ann-villareal.shtml 

You can also participate remotely at http://video.cpp.edu/live

For those observing Rosh Hashanah, an informal dialogue space with Dr. Villarreal will be available in-person on Wednesday, Sept. 28, in SSB 121-MPR 1967/69 from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

Promoting a campus experience where all feel an authentic sense of belonging and affirmation is central to our mission, and we each play a role in promoting inclusive excellence at Cal Poly Pomona. Thank you for your engagement in this conversation to further these aims.

Sincerely,

Soraya M. Coley
Ph.D. President