The university is organizing a search committee to hire a new head of the Center for Inclusive Excellence after the director announced in January he would resign to accept another position, SIU officials said.

Nathan Stephens, the former director, started a new job as director of the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Jan. 9.

A meeting for creating the search committee, which will be composed of students and university employees, is scheduled to take place within the week, Lori Stettler, the university’s interim vice chancellor for student affairs, said Tuesday.

Stettler was unable to provide a timeline for replacing Stephens, and said there is no preference as to whether the committee will promote from within the university or conduct a national search. Stephens earned a $65,000 salary, according to university records.

Meanwhile, Stettler said the responsibilities Stephens leaves behind will be divided among employees within the department. Those responsibilities, she said, include advising students, conducting workshops and advocating for social justice.

In 2013, a national search committee chose Stephens to lead the Center for Inclusive Excellence following its establishment in 2012. He previously worked as the senior coordinator in the University of Missouri-Columbia’s black culture center from 2006 through 2013.

Stephens also taught diversity courses at Williams Woods University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Zachary Shaw can be reached at [email protected], 618-536-3325 or on Twitter @zlshaw. 

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement