New Diversity and Equity Leaders Will Help Shape NC State’s Future

Belltower with NC flag on right

NC State Belltower, Fall 2010

The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) will welcome several new faces in prominent positions this summer. Linda McCabe Smith will take the helm as OIED’s vice provost as of August 1, 2016. McCabe Smith held the position of associate chancellor for institutional diversity at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 2009 to 2016. She is a native of Havelock, NC and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at North Carolina Central University. She earned her doctorate in speech-language and hearing pathology from SIU Carbondale.

Reginald Barnes will begin as senior director of campus community centers on July 11. The senior director will report to the vice provost and supervise the African American Cultural Center, the GLBT Center, Multicultural Student Affairs and the Women’s Center. Barnes comes to NC State from Eastern Michigan University, where he served as director of the department of diversity and community involvement from 2010-2016. He earned his master’s degree in higher education from St. John’s University and his bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a minor in music studies at NC State. He also competed in track while at NC State.

Also soon to be named, a new associate vice provost for equal opportunity and equity will join the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity in July. The associate vice provost will join Ursula Hairston, Jordyne Blaise, Carley Wyche, and Chris Genwright in the EOE unit, which focuses on the university’s compliance activities in equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, discrimination harassment prevention and response, Title IX compliance, accommodations and adjustments and other related areas.

The staff of OIED looks forward to welcoming these new leaders!