Three Women Appointed to Diversity Roles in Higher Education

Andrea Guzman will be the new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Central Florida, effective July 6. She has been serving as the associate vice president for student outreach and diversity at Florida Atlantic University.

A native of Detroit, Dr. Guzman earned a bachelor’s degree in societal politics, a master of public administration degree, and an educational doctorate from the University of Michigan.

Leah Cox was appointed vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 2017, she has been serving as the inaugural vice president for inclusion and institutional equity at Towson University in Maryland. Earlier, Dr. Cox was at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, where she served as special assistant to the president and chief diversity officer, Title IX coordinator, and campus ombudsman.

Dr. Cox holds a bachelor’s degree from what is now McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, a master’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Meshea L. Poore, vice president for equity, diversity, and inclusion at West Virginia University, is the new president of the Big 12 Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She has been on the staff at West Virginia University since 2018. Earlier, she was president of the West Virginia State Bar.

Poore is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in political science. She earned a juris doctorate at the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.