Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Mónica Russel y Rodríguez, plays critical role in creating effective change on campus

Mónica Russel y Rodríguez, Assistant Provost in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, offered insight in a recent article in Diverse Issues in Higher Education. 

The article discusses the rise in social activism on campuses across the country and how higher education institutions are analyzing their policies and practices.

Russel y Rodríguez discussed how Northwestern University is committed to campus activism involving social justice and equity initiatives. She elaborated on several of these initiatives including the prison education program and the 10 commitments administration made that focus on reviewing campus police practices, increasing diversity training, and developing anti-racist curriculum.

“I think there is a willingness to hear not only the problems that students are experiencing but how they imagine the solution,” said Russel y Rodríguez, who also has faculty appointments in the Program of Latina and Latino Studies and in the Department of Anthropology. “There are protests for sure. There are big things happening out there in the world, and the university has an intersection with those big things, including policing and how do we respond to COVID? Those are all really difficult problems. Students and faculty are well-positioned to have commentary on them.”

“I feel like my colleagues here at Northwestern are fantastic and very motivated to figure out what is happening to students across the board so that we can be proactive,” said Russel y Rodriguez.

Read the full article, “Chief Diversity Officers Play Critical Role in Effecting Lasting Change on Campus” on the Diverse: Issues In Higher Education website.

Learn more about Mónica Russel y Rodríguez on her biography page.