Division of Community & Inclusivity
The mission of the College to "provide an education that empowers students to use their hearts, minds and hands to meet personal, professional and global challenges and to lead purposeful lives of responsibility, leadership, service and civic engagement is achieved primarily through education and building a campus culture in alignment with that mission.
The vice president for community and inclusivity (VPCI) is responsible for fostering the well-being of every member of the Hood community and a healthy, safe, empowering and inclusive campus climate. Additionally, the VPCI:
- ensures that processes, policies and strategic priorities reinforce and strengthen the College's overall commitment to the well-being of all members of the Hood Community
- identifies and proposes solutions to obstacles (systematic or singular) that prevent individual growth and well-being
Tammi Simpson, J.D. joined Hood College on August 2, 2021, as the College's first vice president for community and inclusivity.
2023-2024 Highlights
Hood College continues to actively encourage culturally enriching experiences for the entire student body. Collaboration between offices, student organizations and academic departments is key in sponsoring heritage/history months; educational, social and cultural programs; fashion and talent shows; musical performances and special trips. The Division of Community and Inclusivity works collaboratively with offices and departments across campus in support of multicultural programming and activities throughout the year. Some examples include Hispanic Heritage Month, the Iftar dinner, International Education Week, Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming and Black History Month celebration and programming, and Native American Heritage Month programming.
In August 2023, the College helped to promote the inaugural Black Frederick Festival, and the five student organizations that comprise the Diversity Coalition (African Caribbean Student Union, Black Student Union, Feminist Student Union, Latinx Student Union, and Queer Student Union) collaborated to kick off the fall semester with a Diversity Coalition Block Party on the Quad. In October, The Queer Student Union (QSU) hosted a Safe Sex Carnival. On November 8, 2023, the offices of Community and Inclusivity, Marketing and Communication, Alumni and Constituent Engagement, and the Student Success Center partnered to celebrate Hood’s first-generation students on National First-Generation College Celebration Day. Later in November, the Office of Community and Inclusivity and the Humanities Council welcomed Navajo librarian Elayne Silversmith (Diné), of the Vine Deloria, Jr. Library, National Museum of the American Indian, who presented a talk entitled, “My Path from the Navajo Rez to the Smithsonian."
In January 2024, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vice President of Community and Inclusivity facilitated a campus virtual discussion of Eyes on the Prize, and members of the campus community volunteered in a clean-up day at the Halfway African American Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. In February, the VPCI and the director of inclusive excellence hosted the College’s inaugural celebration of Lunar New Year, and the Division of Community and Inclusivity hosted the third annual Sex Week to promote discussion and dialogue to create awareness and a healthy sexual culture for all relationships of every kind. The division kicked off Black History Month with a celebration dinner featuring live music and soul food.
On April 18, in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Hood’s African American Studies minor, a reception was held in honor of the program’s founding director, Hoda Zaki, Ph.D. and award-winning author, activist and professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, Brittney Cooper, Ph.D. Following the reception, Dr. Cooper provided a public lecture on “The Joys of Black Feminist World Making,” sponsored by the Hanson Lecture Series through the Foundation for Enhancing Communities.
On June 19, guest writer/poet Taylor Johnson was the featured reader for Juneteenth. Johnson is the author of Inheritance (Alice James Books, 2020), winner of the 2021 Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America and a 2024 Whiting Award. On June 22, the College once again took part in Frederick Pride, the 11th Pride celebration and festival in downtown Frederick.
Offices in Community and Inclusivity
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