Renetta Garrison Tull joined °”TV as the universityâs first vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in July 2019, less than a year before the high-profile killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others led to widespread civil unrest across the nation and stark discussions about racial inequality.
Combine that with the COVID-19 pandemic and itâs been a tumultuous start to Tullâs career at °”TV, and she said she sometimes gets questions about whether she made the right decision to come here when she did.
âAnd I tell them if I was going to do it anywhere, I'm so glad that I'm here doing it at °”TV, because I do believe that we're doing a lot,â Tull told Chancellor Gary S. May on the most recent episode of Face to Face With Chancellor May, released today (Feb. 28). âWe have the support that we need to move forward to work on these things.â
She discussed the stresses that come along with working in diversity, equity and inclusion, and the support system she relies on, including colleagues at °”TV and other UC campuses, along with her church â even if she has to attend virtually.
Representation matters
Tull and May discussed Black History Month, and ways Tullâs Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is both marking the occasion and working longer-term to improve the experiences of Black students.
Tull cited , a new initiative in her office that is currently focused on addressing anti-Blackness. She also stressed the importance of representation and making Black students feel welcomed on campus. That idea is spreading beyond her office; she said a library staffer recently spotted a tour group of Black students and personally escorted them to the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for a welcome.
âWe were able to give them some snacks and some swag and just say: âWelcome to campus. We want to see you here,ââ Tull said. âSo we try to be that for people in the community.â
Tull also mentioned the effect representation has had on her, like when she was an undergraduate student at Howard University studying electrical engineering and saw May â who she said had either just completed his Ph.D. or was in the process of doing so â on stage at a conference for the National Society of Black Engineers.
âIt was that idea that, wow, there are Black folks who go and get their Ph.D.s in engineering,â Tull, who would go on to earn a doctorate in speech science and become an electrical engineer, said of the event. âThat was the first time that I had seen that.â
Watch their full conversation in the video above to learn what song Tull has been listening to lately, her favorite travel destination and what she might be doing if she werenât in this field.
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Cody Kitaura is a News and Media Relations Specialist in the Office of Strategic Communications, and can be reached by email or at 530-752-1932.