Who We Are

Anita Davis, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Anita Davis serves as the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Trinity College.  In this role, she collaborates with various campus stakeholders to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion goals into processes, policies, and initiatives in all areas of the College. She provides leadership to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion which includes Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Title IX, the Queer Resource Center, and the Women and Gender Resource Action Center. Dr. Davis also provides joint leadership, along with the Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, to the Office of Human Resources.

Dr. Davis joined Trinity College in September 2018, coming from the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS), where she served as Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the consortium of 16 colleges and universities. Before ACS, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she also served for seven years as an Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and as the Inaugural Director of the African American Studies Program for five years.

A member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers (LADO), Davis holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in clinical/community psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.A. from Rhodes College.

Pamela Whitley, Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Compliance

Pamela Whitley serves as Trinity’s inaugural Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Compliance where she will provide strategic leadership to Trinity’s ongoing efforts to create a campus culture that is welcoming, safe, and inclusive for all students, faculty, and staff. Ms. Whitley brings broad and varied experiences in the areas of Title IX, compliance, and DEI to Trinity.

Ms. Whitley joined Trinity College in July 2021 from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), where she served as the Associate Chief Diversity Officer/Title IX officer. Her responsibilities included overseeing the investigation process for sexual harassment, discrimination, and Title IX complaints; providing leadership, coordination, and oversight of the university’s Affirmative Action Plan; and coordinating campus wide cultural events to promote equity and inclusion. Her experiences in higher education spans from technical colleges to public and private institutions in Connecticut, Washington, DC and South Carolina where she provided leadership in investigations and Title IX processes, DEI initiatives, first-year programs, academic advisement and international admissions.

A member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), Whitley holds a M.Ed. in counseling from Howard University and a B.S. from Voorhees College.

Robert Cotto, Jr. Director, DEI Campus and Community Engagement

As the Director of DEI Campus and Community Engagement, Robert provides leadership and learning for DEI programs aimed at engaging with the campus and broader community. He also leads connections between DEI and other key offices across campus in support of institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with partnerships with other institutions on related initiatives. Previously, he served as the Director of Urban Educational Initiatives, Hartford Trinity College Magnet Academy (HMTCA) Partnership, and a Community Fellow with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Robert is also a scholar of education history and policy in urban social contexts. His scholarship draws on mixed-method analysis that focuses on intersection of schools, Black and Latino communities, and urban development in the past and present times. In addition to being a former history and social studies teacher, he successfully defended his dissertation as a Ph.D. candidate in the Learning, Leadership, and Education Policy program at University of Connecticut Neag School of Education (Summer 2022). Learn more about his background, teaching, and scholarship here.

Jared Delane, Program Coordinator for P.R.I.D.E. and Cultural House Coordinator, Multicultural Affairs

Serves as the Program Coordinator for the P.R.I.D.E. (Promoting Respect for Inclusive Diversity in Education) program . He directly oversees all programming involving student P.R.I.D.E. Leaders and Cultural House activities.

Prior to Trinity, Jared served as a Program Coordinator in The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Worcester State University. He graduated from the University of Connecticut ‘17 with a double Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Sciences and Sociology.

While as student at UConn, Jared also competed as a Division I Track & Field athlete for four years.

Laura R. Lockwood, Director of Women & Gender Resource Action Center

Laura Lockwood has served as the director of the Women & Gender Resource Action Center (WGRAC) at Trinity College since 1998. She earned a B.A. in urban studies with a minor in history from the University of Connecticut. Her M.A. in public policy and law with a concentration in international women’s issues was completed while serving as the education director of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF) in Hartford. Lockwood taught sociology at the University of Hartford and Capital Community College and served as an organizing consultant for the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.

Laura also served as the executive director of community-based organizations in New Haven and New Britain. As a certified facilitator she participated in Trinity’s Conversations on Race in the early 2000s. She has volunteered locally, nationally, and internationally.

In 2016, Lockwood received Trinity College’s Trustee Award for Staff Excellence.

Crystal Nieves, Director of LGBTQ+ Life / Queer Resource Center

Crystal is a class of 2008 Trinity College alum receiving a B.A. in Public Policy and Law and Human Rights Studies and is currently completing her M.A. in Public Policy.

She is excited to return to the Trinity community to serve as the Director of LGBTQ+ Life providing leadership to the Queer Resource Center and serving as a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ equity, access, and inclusion.

Crystal has over 13 years of professional experience serving in leadership roles for higher education LGBTQ+ student support services, programming, and policy development.  She returns to Trinity after four years serving as the Assistant Director of the historic Stonewall Center at UMASS Amherst. Prior to her work at the Stonewall Center, Crystal served as the inaugural half-time coordinator of the Trinity Queer Resource Center (QRC) under the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Over those nine years Crystal was able to bring a student-led proposal for the QRC to life providing renewed institutional support for LGBTQ+ students and opportunities for staff, faculty, and student education on matters of LGBTQ+ inclusion. During six of the nine years at Trinity, Crystal worked concurrently as the half-time coordinator of the LGBT Center at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) under their office of Student Activities and Leadership Development where she expanded the center’s programs and presence as a resource on campus and directed intentional and emergent Trans inclusion policies for CCSU.

Crystal is a proud first gen, Latina, queer, gender non-conforming, woman who hopes to be resource for many students on campus. She is a longtime member of the National Consortium for LGBTQ+ Higher Education Resource Professionals, is a Safe Zone Member trainer, and is certified in Mental Health First Aid.

In addition to general LGBTQ+ community support and education, some of her unique interest areas include a focus on intersectional programming, community building opportunities for Queer and Trans Students of Color, improving connections and collaborations with campus partners and cultural centers, and initiatives around intersectionality and intentional allyship.

Judy Grote, Executive Assistant

Judy provides direct support to the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as well as the Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications. She is originally from south Florida and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies.

Judy joined Trinity College in May 2021 from Savannah College of Art and Design but started working at higher education institutions at the UConn Foundation.

 

VACANT, Director of Multicultural Affairs

VACANT, Title IX Coordinator

VACANT, Training and Program Coordinator – WGRAC and QRC

 

Meet the DEI Faculty Fellows