Three chief diversity officer finalists named

Three finalists for Central Michigan University's vice president and chief diversity officer position will visit campus next week.

Open forums for the candidates — Shawna Patterson-Stephens, Elizabeth Martinez-Podolsky and David Humphrey, Jr. — will be livestreamed to the university community Feb. 23, 24 and 25. Each day, one open forum time is dedicated to faculty and staff and another for students.

• Faculty/staff open forum livestreams will start each day at 2 p.m.
• Student open forum livestreams will start each day at 4 p.m.

Links will be posted on the President's Office website and questions for the candidates can be submitted prior to the open forums via an online form. Questions can also be submitted through the chat function during the open forum.

Tuesday, Feb. 23: Shawna Patterson-Stephens

Patterson-Stephens has served as associate vice chancellor of student affairs and director of the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2019.

She began her higher ed career at Michigan State University as a residence hall director then complex director from 2007-2010. Since that time, she has held leadership roles at the University of Pennsylvania as well as serving as director of the Davis Intercultural Center at Williams College.

She earned her bachelor's degree from CMU, a master's degree in student affairs administration from Michigan State and a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University.

Wednesday, Feb. 24: Elizabeth Martinez-Podolsky

Martinez-Podolsky is director of multicultural student success at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, a position she has held since 2015. Prior to her current role, she was a hall director at ISU from 2012 to 2015.

Before joining ISU, Martinez-Podolsky worked in numerous roles at the University of Iowa, including Iowa's First Nations Summer Program assistant, Center for Diversity and Enrichment Program assistant and hall coordinator.

She is currently studying for her doctorate in higher education administration at Iowa State University, earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Iowa and a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Thursday, Feb. 25: David L. Humphrey, Jr.

Since 2019, Humphrey has been the chief diversity and inclusion officer for the School of Education at the University of Michigan. From 2016-2019, he was associate dean of student affairs for diversity and inclusion at Pepperdine University and prior to that he served as director of the Office for Multicultural Access and Outreach at Indiana Wesleyan University. He also worked in admissions at the Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School in Plymouth, Michigan and a Vanguard AmeriCorps Program Director for the Vanguard Community Development Corporation in Detroit.

Humphrey holds a doctorate in educational studies, critical education and policy studies from Ball State University, a master's degree in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University, a master's degree in biblical studies from Liberty University and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Alabama A&M University.

The new vice president and chief diversity officer will replace A.T. Miller, who stepped down from his role in August 2020. Interim Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Stan Shingles and Senior Vice Provost Julia Johnson are chairing the search committee for Miller's replacement, assisted by search firm DHR International.