Holden Thorp is provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Washington University (as well as a distinguished professor of chemistry). He came to St. Louis in 2013 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as chancellor. The American asked Thorp about Washington University’s ongoing efforts to diversify the institution at all levels.
The St. Louis American: Tell me about your efforts, since you came aboard, to attract and retain African Americans as faculty, students and in administration?
Holden Thorp: Before I got here, there was a big push from the chancellor and the Board of Trustees, and one of the big things that happened was Adrienne Davis came on as vice provost. She has really focused on faculty diversity. Thanks to her efforts, we have doubled the number of black faculty, and now we are focused on retaining them, which will be difficult, because they are attractive to lots of other schools. But we feel good about holding onto the people we’ve got, and that this whole thing will reinforce itself.
In the administration, we have made some great appointments of people who were the best candidates in our searches, but who also are African-American: Lori White, Ronne Turner, Tony Tillman, Bill Tate. These are all terrific people we’re thrilled to have, who also happen to bring diversity to the administration.
With students, we have doubled the percentage of African-American undergraduates from 6 to 12 percent over the last four years. This year, of the first-year students who just arrived, we have 12 percent African-American students and 9 percent Latino students. We’re happy with that. Now we have to make sure we make this a place where they can thrive.
The St. Louis American: What would you credit for these upticks in African-American representation?
Holden Thorp: It all comes down from the chancellor and the board, who asked us to work on this. We realized it’s in the strategic interest of the university, in terms of serving the population of St. Louis, but also serving the population of the future of the country. So we were directed to do that by them, and the rest has just been doing a great job with execution.
One thing that makes a difference is if folks are underrepresented because they have been excluded in the past, they may feel less certain about becoming a candidate or whether the process is going to be fair to them. One way to overcome that is to put extra effort in recruiting candidates who may not have always felt our process was fair to them.
The St. Louis American: What are your strategies for retaining black students and faculty?
Holden Thorp: For students, we established a Center for Diversity and Inclusion a couple years ago. That was a visible and important step. We also have recently appointed Tony Tillman as assistant provost. He is leading a program called the Deneb Stars. The Deneb is the furthest star that you can see with the naked eye. These are students we have identified as low-income. Many are the first generation in their families to go to college. It’s very important to state that just because a student is low-income does not mean they are from an underrepresented group, such as African-American or Latino students, but a number of our black students are Pell Grant-eligible. We do our best to support the Association of Black Students; its president is always involved in our Undergraduate Experience Committee.
And, most importantly, we don’t admit anybody unless we’re absolutely certain they have what it takes be successful here. If you look at our changes in demographics, this happened while the test scores of our students remained the same. We were able to build a class that is more diverse, but also academically qualified in exactly the same way as it has always been.
On the faculty side, that’s harder. Once people are successful academics, we have free agency in our business. Just like with recruiting, you have to make extra effort to make people understand that this is a place where they are valued. We talk about this a lot, and it’s something we are focused on. Hopefully changes in the level of representation in the administration flows down and people see that as an example of where our values are.
The St. Louis American: Ferguson happens in the context of this effort. How does it change this effort for you?
Holden Thorp: We didn’t really see a big change in our ability to make any changes when that happened. If anything, folks feel this is as a place where these issues are at the forefront, and a lot of the people we are recruiting are interested in these issues. So, if anything, it makes St. Louis an interesting place to be academically and to study these issues that are creating challenges for our county.
