Goucher names inaugural vice president for equity and inclusive excellence

After a national search, Goucher College announces Jasmine A. Lee, M.S.W., Ph.D. as its inaugural vice president for equity and inclusive excellence (VPEIE). The VIPEIE will be the college’s senior leadership position focused on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice initiatives at Goucher and will report directly to President Kent Devereaux as a member of the President’s Cabinet. Lee will assume her role on August 7, 2023. 

Lee is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice scholar, practitioner, trainer, and coach. She most recently served as the director of inclusive excellence and led the Initiatives for the Identity, Inclusion & Belonging team at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She worked with students, staff, and faculty to create inclusive campus environments through direct programming and strategic divisional leadership. Lee’s background encompasses campus climate studies and crisis response, inclusive hiring, and supervision best practices, teaching and inclusive classroom pedagogy, diversity action planning, equity assessments, strategic student success outreach and academic advising, and traditional diversity and inclusion programming.  

"Goucher proactively and consistently champions an inclusive community, and is dedicated to social justice, diversity, and multiculturalism as fundamental components of our mission and ethos. With the hiring of Dr. Jasmine Lee as our inaugural vice president for equity and inclusive excellence, we are doubling down on our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice,” said Goucher President Kent Devereaux. “Dr. Lee’s many years of effective leadership and her vast areas of expertise will further ensure that we achieve our goal of creating a welcoming, inclusive campus for everyone, valuing diversity in all its forms and intersections.”  

At Goucher, Lee will oversee the Center for Race, Equity, and Inclusion (CREI), the Office of Title IX, and the LAUNCH network program to support first-generation students and students from historically marginalized communities. In addition, Lee will work to advance the diversity of faculty and staff hiring; create professional development opportunities for all undergraduate and graduate faculty; and work with college leaders on the Hallowed Ground Project, an ongoing research initiative to recognize the contributions of both the Native American and formerly enslaved individuals who lived upon the land the college now occupies.  

In addition to her experience in higher education, Lee is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI), a certified diversity trainer with the National Coalition Building Institute, and a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor. As a social worker, Lee holds a BSW from Eastern Michigan University and an MSW from the University of Michigan. She earned her Ph.D. at Michigan State University, using Critical Race Theory as a framework to study the experiences of Black, first-generation, low-income college students pursuing degrees at a Predominantly White Institution.  

“I look forward to advancing Goucher’s focus on diversity and inclusion as shared in its strategic plan, Cultivating Global Changemakers,” said Dr. Jasmine Lee. “In this newly created leadership role, the Goucher community can count on me to contribute my skills, passion, and expertise to ensure an inclusive culture, grounded in radical love and belonging, where individuals feel seen, celebrated, and valued.” 

In the 2022-23 academic year, Goucher has fore fronted diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) initiatives focusing on campus climate and culture; education, training, and employee development; curriculum & pedagogy; institutional structure; institutional programming, historical reckoning; communications; and accountability. A comprehensive list of the college’s DEIJ initiatives is found here.