Three candidates are running for vice provost for diversity at UW-Madison, a position that aims to implement various diversity initiatives on campus.
The role was previously held as an interim position by Patrick Sims, who is running for the position along with William Lewis and Ron Quincy.
A 15-member committee comprised of faculty, staff and students narrowed down candidates to recommend to UW-Madison Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf according to a university release.
The vice provost for diversity will work alongside Mangelsdorf, providing diversity-related recommendations to UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank working to implement the Diversity Framework on campus.
The finalists held two presentations each over the course of the past week for the candidacy, one for faculty and staff and another targeted at students.
Sims took over as interim vice provost for diversity in August 2013. He is a professor of theater at UW-Madison, where he was the founding director of the Theatre for Cultural & Social Awareness, the release said.
With a masters in theater from UW-Milwaukee, Sims said he feels prepared to continue student involvement on campus.
“I really want to make UW-Madison a space where everyone feels like they belong,” Sims said.
Lewis served in the Marine Corps Reserves for eight years as an undergraduate, then earned a master’s degree in social work and a Ph.D. in higher education administration at Indiana University-Bloomington.
Lewis said he would create a welcoming climate for the UW-Madison community after holding a similar role in fostering diversity at Virginia Tech.
“We can help students to become inclusive global leaders, by working alongside students to help them recognize their place within the larger society,” Lewis said.
Quincy has a history with Big Ten universities, earning a doctorate in social sciences from Michigan State University. He also formerly and worked as the founding director for the Center for Nonprofit Management and Governance in the School of Social Work at Rutgers University.
Quincy worked with student organizations at Rutgers and Harvard University and said he would be “empower” students at UW-Madison to make faculty, staff and students feel as though no one is excluded.
Currently there is no set date for the candidate selection.
