This week, Vermont State University welcomed Paul Suk-Hyun Yoon to the community, serving as the new Chief Diversity Officer.
Yoon’s professional history includes 18 years of experience in education, most recently in the role of Senior Advisor for Inclusive Excellence at the University of Vermont. Yoon will be based at VTSU Williston and will travel between campuses.
An email sent to the VTSU community reads: “Paul will be working closely and collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff to co-create and implement innovative strategies that advance our community-wide commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.”
This comes after the departure of the former CDO Oyibo Afoaku and Assistant Director of DEISJ Outreach and Accountability Aurora Hurd, who left their positions in July this past summer.
With their departure, Hurd sent an email to administrators and select members involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion work at VTSU with the subject line: “DEI at VTSU: Parting Thoughts.” In it, they sent their reasons for leaving the position at the university along with a list of action administrators could take to support DEI work.
“I was seeking opportunities outside VTSU because the DEISJ Office at VTSU has not been given the tools it needs to succeed,” wrote Hurd.
Yoon will join VTSU’s Executive Leadership Team and begin reporting directly to VTSU President. This change in the CDO line of reporting to the president was one of the actions suggested by Hurd, who also highlighted concerns like a lack of staff, no financial support, and no office spaces provided for the team to work.
Hurd wrote about experiences they’ve had during their time at VTSU, claiming they’ve witnessed harm an injustice occur at both “systematic and personal” levels, and that leadership has not prioritized DEISJ work, leaving the community “unable to make sustainable change.”
In their closing remarks, Hurd wrote: “I am proud of the work I have done while at VTSU, I am proud of the work both CDOs have done, and I am proud of the willingness to make change I have seen in our students and employees. I am asking leadership to step up and do what is right – for the betterment of our University and our State.”
The appointment of Yoon as the University’s new CDO gives administrators the opportunity to correct past mistakes and, in Hurd’s words, “shift the story.”
In an email announcing Yoon’s arrival to the community, Yoon was quoted saying:
“I am so excited to join the VTSU family, particularly at this point in the university’s history. I look forward to getting to know as many students, faculty, and staff in the coming days and weeks as I can, and I look forward to working collaboratively with as many people as possible to ensure VTSU is a community where everyone feels heard, valued, and supported.”