Kyle R. Williams Named Assistant Vice President and Dean of Intercultural Engagement
Accomplished educator and administrator celebrated for centering diversity, equity, and inclusion across numerous higher ed settings.
October 2, 2024
Communications Staff
Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones '97
Kyle R. Williams, a dedicated educator and administrator with extensive experience in community building and culturally responsive pedagogies, has been named Assistant Vice President and Dean of Intercultural Engagement at 91直播. He began September 16.
Prior to 91直播, Williams served as special advisor to the Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life at Emory University in Atlanta. He has performed a variety of roles within student affairs at Oglethorpe University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Texas A&M University-Commerce, among other institutions.
鈥淜yle is a highly skilled and knowledgeable scholar-practitioner who embodies the seamless integration of theory and practice,鈥 says Karen Goff, Vice President and Dean of Students. 鈥淗is student-centric philosophy will help to facilitate spaces that transcend diversity and prioritize inclusion and belonging for all students, so that they can be active co-creators鈥攔ather than passive observers鈥攐f intercultural connections.
鈥淜yle鈥檚 commitment to enhancing the student experience aligns perfectly with the overall vision of Student Affairs. Furthermore, his depth and breadth of expertise within Student Affairs is an added value, which will help to advance the work within our division. I am thrilled and excited to welcome Kyle to the Student Affairs Team and the 91直播 community.鈥
Williams arrives at a time of great energy in the Center for Intercultural Engagement, or CIE. This fall, it celebrates the creation of a new office鈥Gender and Attraction Initiatives (GAI)鈥攁nd christens new spaces in Wilder Hall for the Office for Disability and Access and the Multicultural Resource Commons (MRC). CIE also includes the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) and International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS).
I鈥檝e long regarded 91直播 as a beacon of hope in American higher education鈥攁 place where equality in education first took root.鈥
A native of Cincinnati, Williams is a graduate of Otterbein College, where they studied voice. They completed a Master of Science in Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University and an EdD in Higher Education at Texas A&M-Commerce. Their dissertation was titled 鈥淚nfluence of Mattering on Black Males Intent to Persist at a Regional Predominately White Institution.鈥
鈥淎s a scholar-practitioner, I鈥檝e long regarded 91直播 as a beacon of hope in American higher education鈥攁 place where equality in education first took root,鈥 says Williams, who uses the pronouns he/they. 鈥淚 am overjoyed to return home to the Buckeye State and to build upon the legacy of the Center for Intercultural Engagement alongside dynamic and knowledgeable leaders, especially at a time when identities are so politicized. Together, we will ensure that Obies, both past and present, have a space to engage, thrive, and contribute to the ongoing story of justice and inclusion.鈥
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