CINCINNATI – Xavier University leadership wants to build a more “inclusive and equitable campus community.” And they’ve brought in Ivy Banks to help them accomplish that mission.
What You Need To Know
- Ivy Banks comes to Xavier from a similar position at the University of Arizona
- Her job is to help attract and retain a broad cross section of students from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds
- Roughly 21% of Xavier’s student body is made up of people of color
- President Colleen Hanycz said diversifying XU’s campus is a key part of its growth strategy and its mission
The private, Catholic institution recently announced Banks will serve as its vice president for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. As part of that job, she’ll lead Xavier’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI), which supports the development of diversity and inclusion initiatives across the campus.
Ivy Banks, the new vice president of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at Xavier University (Provided: Xavier University)
Banks will start in late January. At that time, she’ll become the second person to hold the position since its creation in 2017.
“I feel honored at the opportunity to serve the Xavier community,” Banks said. “Improving inclusivity and equity in higher education is an essential mission, one I plan to carry out using innovative, forward-thinking and data-driven strategies that will affect positive change in our community. I am eager to get started and help position the university for success in the years to come.”
University President Colleen Hanycz said the school sought an individual who was capable of leading their “continued commitment to inclusive excellence at every turn.” She said Banks has proven herself an “accomplished leader of inclusivity initiatives across several higher-education institutions.”
An attorney by trade, Banks comes to Xavier from the University of Arizona, where she served as associate vice provost for diversity and inclusion.
Hanycz said what stands out about Banks is her ability to not only increase the diversity of students enrolling in schools, but to keep them enrolled. Student retention is key, Hanycz said. Banks has also helped create early pipeline programs, an important tool for student recruitment.
When she was appointed in July, Hanycz became the first layperson and first woman president since the university’s founding in 1831. Hanycz said hiring Ivy will help build and sustain what she called the “architecture of belonging” at Xavier.
“Our Jesuit Catholic foundation calls us to foster an environment where all are welcome, strengthening the lives of our students intellectually, morally and spiritually. Ivy’s experience with recruiting and retaining diverse student groups, advancing equity on campuses and leading strategic work in this area makes her an excellent choice to join Xavier in this mission,” Hanycz said.
Growing diversity on campus
Hanycz said hiring Banks comes at a key moment for the university as it heads into its “next strategic chapter” as it looks to continue its growth in a variety of aspects.
The physical campus in parts of Norwood and the Cincinnati neighborhood of North Avondale have grown significantly in recent years. The size of the student body has grown in terms of numbers and make up as well.
The school still remains largely white, but its student body has grown to 24% “multicultural,” according to a Xavier spokesperson. That’s roughly one out of four of XU’s nearly 5,000 undergraduate students. XU’s website lists 21% of its students as being “people of color.” Geographically, those individuals come from 49 states and dozens of countries.
To help students identify colleges where they are most likely to encounter undergraduates from different racial or ethnic groups, U.S. News hosts a Campus Ethnic Diversity index. The index looks at a school’s total proportion of minority students, leaving out international students, and the overall mix of groups, per U.S. News.
The data is drawn from each institution’s fall 2020 total undergraduate student body. The ethnic categories U.S. News used in the calculations are non-Hispanic African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, Asian, non-Hispanic white and multiracial (two or more races). Students who did not identify themselves as members of any of those demographic groups were classified as non-Hispanic whites.
The formula produces a diversity index that ranges from 0 to 1, with scores closest to 1 being most diverse.
Xavier University earned a 0.39.
For comparison: Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, scored a 0.47, Wright State got a 0.41 and the University of Cincinnati came in at 0.35. Mount St. Joseph on the west side of Cincinnati sits at 0.33.
The top score in the country was a four-way tie at 0.76.
The job ahead for Banks and the OIDI
Banks, who is Black, was a first-generation college student at Cleveland State University. After graduation, she went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law and a master of education degree from Northern Arizona University.
Part of her job at Xavier will be to help recruit, retain and support students facing similar circumstances to her own growing up. OIDI’s objectives include:
-
Creating and maintaining a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable campus climate
-
Recruiting underrepresented student groups and enhance their retention
-
Recruiting underrepresented faculty and staff and enhance their retention
-
Promoting diversity education, scholarship and culturally responsive teaching
-
Fostering a culture of community engagement
-
Transforming the institutional culture by executing on our commitments and building a culture of accountability
Prior to her stint at the University of Arizona, Banks served as assistant VP of Inclusion and director of Multicultural and LGBTQIA Student Services at Northern Arizona University. She was director of Disability Services at the University of Phoenix. While working as an administrator at the University of Akron School of Law, Banks coordinated student recruitment and retention programs while implementing new diversity recruitment initiatives.
Banks replaces Dr. Janice Walker who began the then-new role in 2017. She was a long-time member of Xavier’s mathematics department and then dean of its College of Arts and Sciences.
Walker announced that she would be stepping down from the position earlier this year. Dr. Norman Townsel, a clinical coordinator and teaching professor in the school’s Department of Counseling, has served in the role on an interim basis during a national search for Walker’s successor.
For more on Xavier’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, visit xavier.edu/institutional-diversity-inclusion
