Durant-Jones named vice president for community and belonging
Nazareth College President Beth Paul has named Lisa Durant-Jones as vice president for community and belonging. Durant-Jones held the position as interim vice president since August 1, 2020. She previously served as the associate vice president for academic affairs and graduate initiatives for three years.
Nazareth's Community and Belonging team is dedicated to developing students who respect all forms of diversity, practice inclusivity, and advocate for social justice. This commitment to diversity and inclusion informs the College's curriculum, teaching, learning, scholarship, creative activities, co-curricular activities, residential life, community involvement, and support of these endeavors by the Nazareth community. The Office for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Education, Center for Spirituality, and Student Access and Achievement programs are all integral departments that make up the Community and Belonging team.
"She has led the Community and Belonging team and the College with an unwavering commitment to our values and has paved the way for inclusivity programs that will provide a lasting legacy, demonstrating that she is a pivotal member of our leadership team," said Paul. "She is exactly the right leader at the right time for Nazareth, and I am glad she will continue to undertake our vital College-wide goals of equity and inclusion as we continue our work toward a more just and equitable future for all."
Durant-Jones says: "We are at a pivotal time when change must happen at a societal level but also within institutions of higher education. Our students are demanding more than the status quo! We must meet the challenge to create an equity-based educational environment."
Durant-Jones is the former co-chair of the ad hoc committee on diversity and Inclusion at Nazareth — which was charged with developing a strategic plan to assist the College in infusing cultural competencies into the climate and culture, and led to Nazareth creating a cabinet-level position and naming its first vice president of diversity and inclusion in January 2018.
In 2016, Durant-Jones earned the national Cultural Pluralism Award from the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP). This award is given to recognize an individual who is involved in furthering the principle of cultural pluralism in an academic setting by demonstrating leadership through promoting it.
Durant-Jones began teaching at Nazareth in 1996, as a professor of speech-language pathology. She was named as an American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) diversity champion in 2009.
Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for nearly 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.
Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.
