Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) Lisa Coleman yesterday announced her resignation effective at the end of December. Coleman plans to take a position at Harvard University next semester.
Coleman's announcement caps off nearly ten years working in a variety of capacities within the university. She served for almost eight years as the director of the Africana Center before being selected to direct the OID when the university established the office in 2007.
"She's made an enormous contribution," Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha said. "She was the inaugural holder of this position and for the first time brought some coherence and coordination to diversity efforts at Tufts University."
Bharucha told the Daily that her move to Cambridge will be a loss to the university but said the administration was pleased that she had an opportunity for a "new challenge."
Coleman also served as a teaching affiliate in the American Studies and Women's Studies Programs during her tenure at Tufts.
She will take on the role of chief diversity officer and special assistant to Harvard President Drew Faust.
"My new position offers exciting opportunities for personal and professional growth, but the decision to leave Tufts after almost a decade has been a very difficult one," Coleman announced late yesterday afternoon in an e−mail to the Tufts community. "During my time here, I have been very fortunate to work with an exceptional group of colleagues, faculty, students, and staff."
Coleman could not be reached last night for comment.
Several administrators will step in to fill the gap left by Coleman's departure. Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Jacqueline Hymes will take over the administrative duties of the OID. Director of Diversity Education and Development in Arts, Sciences and Engineering Margery Davies and Associate Provost Vincent Manno will take over the office's programming.
Bharucha said that the university plans to search for a permanent replacement but offered no timeframe. He was confident that in the interim, though, the OID would run efficiently.
"The transition will be very smooth," he said. "We have a number of people who can pick up the slack."
Bharucha and Coleman have worked together this semester in developing the university's first annual report on diversity, offering a status report on diversity initiatives across Tufts' campuses. Though the report was scheduled to come out this semester, Bharucha said he will now release it in the spring.
Harvard spokesperson Kevin Galvin confirmed Coleman's plan to move to the university last night but declined to offer any other comment.
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Ellen Kan contributed reporting to this article.
