Associate Provost and Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity featured in Alabama NewsCenter article
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Associate Provost and Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity Taffye Benson Clayton was recently featured in Alabama NewsCenter. Clayton and her team are tasked with expanding Auburn’s diversity and inclusion footprint within the institution and nationally. Throughout her career as an executive administrator leading diversity and inclusion efforts at major universities, Clayton has served students, faculty, staff, community, visitors and alumni.
Clayton told Alabama NewsCenter she “never set out” to have a career involving diversity and inclusion in higher education, she developed an interest in policy while working on Capitol Hill and the work “found” her. At Auburn she established the “Critical Conversations” public forum series that brings scholars and national personalities on campus to explore viewpoint diversity, free speech and inclusion issues.
“We’ve made some gains in workforce diversity at Auburn, but there’s more work to be done,” said Clayton in the Alabama NewsCenter article. “Our numbers for women and African Americans in executive leadership on the President’s Cabinet have increased. However, just as other major research universities across the country, we are challenged with recruiting and retaining historically underrepresented faculty at Auburn. We are on a continuous improvement model to both increase the presence of more diverse faculty and to cultivate a supportive and inclusive climate where faculty, students, staff and administrators can thrive.”
