By Jerome A. Gilbert, Ph.D.

President of Marshall University

We recently have formed two organizations at Marshall University to assist in communicating some of the university’s institutional values to both our internal audience and the community at large. These new organizations are the President’s Commission on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and the President’s Commission on Women’s Issues.

As president of Marshall, I am proud they bear my endorsement in conveying the importance of these topics to our university and our society.

Further promoting the campus culture to be more diverse in make-up and in thought is something I have embraced from my first days at Marshall. As we add more diversity to our student body, faculty and staff, it is important to expand our programming to highlight the benefits of diversity and foster the inclusion of all individuals in our university family.

That desire was a factor in promoting the creation of the Commission on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in late 2017. I am extremely proud Marshall is supporting the city of Huntington’s Open to All initiative, and that through the new commission, our university will continue to be a welcoming campus with an even more visible statement of our beliefs about equality and inclusion.

Marshall’s commitment to the equality of women and to making sure issues impacting women are given appropriate attention will be the focus of the President’s Commission on Women’s Issues, which is being formed early this year. Working parallel to the other new commission, expanded programming will be instituted to bring attention to the fact that more can be done in the area of gender equality. It is unacceptable that women have been assaulted and harassed both verbally and physically in past and recent times in a culture that still allows men to have advantages over women. The commissions will both work to help Marshall take a leadership role in ending inequality and promote full inclusion and equality for all.

I want to thank Kelli Johnson and Tim Melvin for their leadership in creating the President’s Commission on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion. Likewise, I want to thank Leah Toliver and Kelli Johnson for their leadership in the formation of the President’s Commission on Women’s Issues. These commissions will function in the university’s Division of Academic Affairs and in the Office of Student Affairs, and will have the full support of my office.

Progress has been made in our country and at this university, but there is still distance left on the journey. These commissions will help ensure we stay on our journey’s path at Marshall and that we do so with renewed resolve.

Jerome A. “Jerry” Gilbert is the 37th president of Marshall University.