Interim President Joseph Harroz Jr. will recommend Jane Irungu, Ph.D., as the interim vice president for Diversity and Inclusion, having served as interim associate vice president of the Office of University Community since August of 2018. He also will recommend that the Office of University Community be renamed the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

“It is important to recognize that authentic and continuing commitment to building a culture of inclusion is absolutely essential for us to move forward as an institution. It is part of everything we do. Dr. Irungu has played a central part in this over the last year,” Harroz said.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion, formerly University Community, is responsible for developing and maintaining a diverse and inclusive community through recruitment, retention, engagement, outreach and advancement of students, faculty and staff.  Irungu will support existing academic and departmental diversity initiatives already in place. In addition, she will lead efforts to strengthen diversity and inclusion programs while engaging the university in informed and respectful discourse.

Prior to being named interim associate vice president of University Community, Irungu served as the executive director for the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies, a division of University Outreach, where she provided strategic supervision for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in the United States.

Before joining OU, Irungu held different positions at the University of Oregon, including assistant vice president of intercultural initiatives in the Division of Student Life and director of the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence in the Division of Equity and Inclusion.

The next meeting of the OU Board of Regents is scheduled for June 25 and 26.