Bryan Samuel, Kansas State’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer, will leave K-State and assume the role of vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Texas-Arlington in early May.
“It has been my distinct pleasure to serve as the inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer for K-State,” Samuel said in a K-State Today press release. “This is a bittersweet moment for my family and me as over the past three years we have come to love the K-State and Manhattan community. … I am proud of the work we have done and the advancement we have made in such a short time.”
Samuel, along with many faculty, staff and students, helped advance several important diversity and inclusion initiatives across the K-State campus. Some notable achievements to his long list include KSUnite, the 2020 University Climate Survey and the diversity and inclusion plan.
“These institutional initiatives were not possible without [faculty, staff and students’] energy and passion for this work,” Samuel said.
“Dr. Samuel helped establish the office of diversity and inclusion as a cabinet-level position,” President Richard Myers said in K-State Today. “He laid the foundation for this new position while also moving the university forward in so many ways in the past three years. We appreciate his many contributions in leading and helping ensure our many diversity-related initiatives were at the top of our priority lists. Thanks to Bryan, the university is poised to continue progress in an area that is essential for our future success.”
The search for a new chief diversity and inclusion officer at K-State is on-going at this time.
