President Iuliano announces the departure of Dr. Jeanne Arnold, the College’s Chief Diversity Officer.
Dear Members of the Gettysburg College Community,
It is with truly mixed emotions that I write today to inform you that Dr. Jeanne Arnold, the College’s Chief Diversity Officer, has announced that she will pursue a new opportunity as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Chief of Staff at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. Jeanne will conclude her remarkable service at the College on June 30.
To say that Jeanne has had a meaningful impact on the trajectory of Gettysburg College would be an understatement. As our community’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer, Jeanne helped to set a new and important course for the College. In her nearly seven years on campus, she has been instrumental in developing and strengthening our foundation for diversity and inclusion work at Gettysburg. Jeanne has often said that the only true way for an institution to begin prioritizing and seeing value in diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging is to make changes at the very structures of an institution; this is precisely what Jeanne has done so well.
During her tenure, Jeanne has worked with faculty co-chairs Divonna Stebick and Istvan Urcuyo to institutionalize the climate study process—an informative survey that has proven to aid senior leadership in more fully understanding the climate of campus and providing an analytical roadmap to address diversity and inclusion challenges at the College. Together with her co-chairs Jennifer Bloomquist and Suzanne Flynn, she also launched our Inclusion Partner Program, which has helped to systemize how the College hires faculty, administrators, and staff, ensuring all professional searches are seeking out the most diverse pool of candidates and that the search process limits bias and structural inequity. Jeanne has also spearheaded the application of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) on campus. The IDI is a tool designed to provide feedback on both perceived and actual levels of intercultural competence. It is now required for all new College employee hires and the tool has become more prevalent among campus groups and the student body.
Most recently, Jeanne has lent her expertise to the Curriculum Review Committee, offering insights on how the revised curriculum proposal can help to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion into the future. Also, this academic year, in partnership with her faculty co-chair Brent Talbot, Jeanne led the Bias Awareness Resource Committee through a process to reflect on ways our College community can continue to make progress on our diversity initiatives. The committee’s work has resulted in a set of commitments by the College, on which, with her leadership, we have made progress this year. Our community is fully committed to advancing the other related priorities in the years ahead.
Jeanne’s work on our campus has left an indelible mark. In the coming weeks, I will send more information about next steps for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and for the Chief Diversity Office position. Until then, please join me in congratulating Jeanne and thanking her for her service to Gettysburg College.
Thank you,
Bob Iuliano
President