DDI Good News | January 2022
Join us in welcoming Stella Lee to the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. Lee will serve as the assistant director of Diversity Education and work directly with undergraduate students. She will be responsible for designing and facilitating diversity-related trainings and educational opportunities outside of the classroom. She will also oversee a new DEI student facilitator program. Stella will report to the Director of Diversity Education, Dr. Taj Smith. Lee’s background is in higher education, advising, sociology and East Asian studies. She has experience serving on institutional committees, delivering cultural competency trainings and working with diverse student populations at the University of Rochester, Cornell University and Boston University. She is fluent in English and Korean and conversational in Mandarin Chinese. Lee has two dogs, Maximus, a Rottweiler who weighs 110lbs and Jaxon, an Anatolian Shepherd Mix who weighs 100lbs. Lee begins her new role February 1st.
Congratulations to Thomastine Sarchet, assistant dean of ALANA Academic Outreach, Access and Success at NTID and director of the Center for International Educational Outreach. Sarchet defended her dissertation on December 10, 2021. It is entitled Colonialism by Any Other Name: Discursive Practices of Network Partnership in an International Deaf Education Project. Her defense completes her Ed.D. in Teaching & Curriculum from the University of Rochester. Thomastine’s work has been featured on the OFDR’s #IamRITfaculty campaign.
Congratulations are also in order to Maria Vega. DDI is excited that she has returned to RIT’s Higher Education Opportunity Program as associate director. She started her new position January 7th .Vega has been at RIT for 14 years, 11 of them in HEOP. She has also served as director of CSTEP and most recently as faculty recruitment assistant in the Office of Faculty Diversity and Recruitment.