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SALISBURY, MD---Kevin Carreathers, new assistant to the vice president for academic affairs for institutional diversity at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, believes promoting positive experiences in both the on- and off-campus communities is key to advancing the progress SU has made in providing a diverse learning atmosphere.

As director of the Department of Multicultural Services for 10 years at Texas A&M University and co-founder of the school’s Diversity Education Institute, he has seen the benefits of a diverse campus and a diverse community.

In addition, he served as interim evening coordinator in the Division of Student and Enrollment Services at Prairie View A&M in Texas and an advisor in the Department of Student Activities at Texas A&M University. He also was associate dean of students in the Office of Minority Affairs at the University of Memphis. There, he co-chaired the planning committee for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. He also co-chaired the university’s African-American History Month activities and was a member of Memphis’ Athletic Council and Diversity, Human Relations and Retention committees.

"I am pleased to welcome someone with such in-depth experience to SU's Office of Institutional Diversity and to the Academic Affairs Division.  I believe he will advance the progress SU is making in these areas," said Provost David Buchanan.

He has earned the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Achievement Award, the Noel/Levitz National Retention Excellence Award and Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in Individual Student Relationships. The Texas Higher Education Coordination Board recognized him for “creating a positive multicultural environment in Texas higher education.” He is listed in Who’s Who Among African Americans and Who’s Who in Black America and has been recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. In 2002 he was named the University of Memphis’ Advisor of the Year.

He has presented on diversity and minority affairs at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education, The National Higher Education Conference on Students of Color, the Texas Association For Access and Equality Conference and the Noel/Levitz National Conference on Student Retention. He also has spoken on those topics for the American Council on Education and Anti-Defamation League Leadership Development Program.

SU, he said, has already taken great measures to help promote diversity on campus through such organizations as the Student NAACP, Union of African-American Students, Lambda Society and Organization of Latin-American Students (OLAS). SU also boasts the third-highest six-year graduation rate for African-Americans in the University System of Maryland, according to a recent Maryland Higher Education Commission survey.

Carreathers, who recently moved to ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ from Prairie View, said he looks forward to meeting people on campus and in the community—a task he said would not be hard: “Everyone I’ve met is very warm, very friendly. It’s a community that’s easy to get to know.”

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.