A-State Announces Appointment of Chief Diversity Officer

Maurice Gipson

Arkansas State University announced Friday that Maurice Gipson will be its first cabinet-level chief diversity officer.

Gipson has served for the past three years as an assistant vice chancellor for diversity, and his area, the Office of Diversity & Community Engagement, will now report directly to the chancellor.

“Because Arkansas State University is dedicated to the ideals of community and inclusive excellence, it is vital that our chief diversity officer has direct and regular interaction with the chancellor, and a seat at the leadership table,” Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said in a news release. “Dr. Gipson has done outstanding work for Arkansas State. His new role will position him to be a key player in enhancing our efforts to recruit and retain a diverse faculty, staff and student body.”

Among the areas Gipson will manage for A-State are enhanced recruitment of students, faculty and staff from diverse communities. He will also provide additional leadership for university initiatives, such as the Campus Climate Council; outreach to local, state and regional diverse communities; and serve on the chancellor’s Executive Council.

“I am looking ahead to the challenges of restoring our historic enrollment levels from the minority community and expanding the opportunities for persons representing the wide range of diverse backgrounds to become a part of A-Statem” Gipson said.

Gipson will continue his existing programs, including advising peer mentoring groups such as Brother-2-Brother, spearheading two faculty development programs (A-State Advance and the Future Faculty Initiative), cultivating new schools for the HBCU Graduate School Pipeline Initiative and working with area high schools to increase participation in the suite of programming within the College Access & Readiness Initiative. He is also a member of the Chancellor’s Commission on Completion.

Gipson joined Arkansas State in January 2015 after spending two years at the University of Texas at Austin, where he managed and coordinated the vice president’s strategic minority mentoring initiatives as a member of the senior staff.

The native of Ferriday, Louisiana, also oversaw several strategic initiatives and community projects and evaluated the effectiveness of unit planning and strategy outcomes.

Before joining UT-Austin, Gipson served in various development and fundraising capacities at Wiley College, Huston-Tillotson University and Langston University.