Larry Irving, president of the Northwestern Alumni Association, is using his platform to focus on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Since beginning his term in Sept. 2020, Irving said the NAA board has been working to build a community that supports each student and alumn’s individual story.
“In the 50 years I’ve been associated with Northwestern, the University has become a much more diverse institution. But diversity is generally the easy part. The harder part is equity and inclusion,” Irving said. “Diversity is when you are invited to the party. Equity is when you’re invited to dance, and inclusion is when you have a say in the playlist. How do we make sure that everyone’s involved in the playlist?”
In an effort to improve equity and inclusion, Irving has promised to listen to Northwestern’s global community of more than 260,000 alumni and students.
“To better understand what our alumni need and want, I’ve committed to listening. I want to hear from everyone. Then, we need to figure out how we take the vested knowledge of our alumni and make the experience better for the students who are here now and yet to come,” he said.
Irving graduated from Northwestern in 1976 with a degree in political science and went on to attend Stanford University Law School. He worked for the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) and Capitol Hill before joining the Clinton administration. Irving is widely known for coining the phrase “the digital divide,” and he helped develop policies that introduced the internet to millions of people in the 1990s.
Irving is currently the president and CEO of the Irving Group, where he continues to try and increase digital access around the world.
Read more about Irving here in Northwestern Magazine.