Four Women Who Are New Diversity Officers at Colleges and Universities

Alina Wong was appointed the inaugural vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been serving as assistant vice provost for educational equity at Pennsylvania State University. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Wong was the assistant director of the Lealtad-Suzuki Center in the department of multicultural life at Macalester College.

Dr. Wong is a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts, where she majored in history and Spanish. She holds a master’s degree in history from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan.

Patricia Harris is the new senior director of education, operations, and initiatives for the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2017, she began working at the university as the director of recruitment in the School of Education.

Harris is a graduate of Savannah State University in Georgia. She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Argosy University and is completing work on a doctorate in education from the University of Georgia.

Sarah Mell was named educator and trainer of inclusive excellence in the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Vermont. Since 2017, Mell has served as the education and outreach coordinator for the university’s Women and Gender Equity Center.

Mel is a graduate of Western Michigan University. She earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Vermont.

Brianna Davis Johnson is the inaugural chief diversity officer at Central Ohio Technical College in Newark. She was a program manager for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Ohio State University.

Dr. Davis Johnson is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she majored in educational studies and urban studies. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration and policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin.