Trustees’ Chair Urges Focus Beyond Numbers on Diversity

Nelson Carbonell tells higher education leaders to look at their school’s challenges and ask tough questions on diversity issues.

April 20, 2016

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Board of Trustees Chair Nelson A. Carbonell. (File Photo)

Board of Trustees Chair Nelson A. Carbonell, speaking on a panel at an Association of Governing Boards (AGB) conference, said that when it comes to issues of diversity, universities and colleges should go beyond the demographics of the classes they admit.

“Celebrating the inbound data is not particularly satisfying,” said Mr. Carbonell, a board member of AGB. At GW, he said, “We asked, ‘Who gets out? What’s their experience when they are here?'

“Every institution needs to look at their challenges,” he continued.

The panel, “Toward an Inclusive Campus Community, was on Tuesday, the last day of a three-day AGB conference in Maryland. Joining Mr. Carbonell on the panel were Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Education Department; Michael Middleton, interim president the University of Missouri System; Janet B. Reid, board member at The Ohio State University; and John Silvanus Wilson Jr., president of Morehouse College, a member of the board of overseers at Harvard University and former dean of GW's Virginia campus.

A full story on the panel’s discussion at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor is available here.