After a nearly two-month long active search for a new associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), St. Joe’s did not make an offer to hire any of the finalists they selected, and will be continuing the search.
Aisha Lockridge, Ph.D., associate professor of communication and media studies, and Kim Allen-Stuck, Ph.D., assistant vice president of student success and educational support, led the university’s search advisory committee.
The committee reviewed 49 applications, conducted 10 phone interviews and then invited five finalists to campus. Three finalists accepted and two declined.
After this process, the final decision would be made by Jean McGivney-Burelle, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, but Lockridge said ultimately, none of the candidates were offered the position.
“We [the search committee] make recommendations to the provost; we don’t decide ultimately, in the end, who gets the job,” Lockridge said. “And so [McGivney-Burelle] went, talked to lots of stakeholders, and she determined in the end that she wanted to see what else is out there.”
Ariana Zablah Mejia ’26, a student member of the search advisory committee, said the committee evaluated the candidates’ fundraising ability, experience with utilizing grants, previous work in higher education and ability to handle bias incidents.
After the search advisory committee selected the top five applicants, they invited the candidates to campus for a luncheon and interview with student leaders, which was available to the wider St. Joe’s community in-person and as a webinar.
Milton O’Brien ’25, president of University Student Senate, was one of the interviewers.
“We expressed some of what the important things for the students at St. Joe’s are, and just having a conversation with them overall, and [saw] how they would go about becoming part of the community if they were to be selected to be the new provost,” O’Brien said.
Zablah Mejia said students should be aware of this process because it directly impacts them.
“I think that it’s important for students to be aware of the impact that this position will have on us, because the DEI associate provost is somebody that is there to better serve the students and to also help students have a better experience at SJU, especially within the DEI component of our education,” Zablah Mejia said.
Currently, the search is expected to resume in January, with the goal of finding a candidate to fill the position as soon as possible. Lockridge said it is uncertain if she and Allen-Stuck will return as the co-chairs of the search committee or if the university will engage an external search committee to assist with the new search.
