By the time Dr. Jamel Santa Cruze Wright became the first chief diversity officer at Eureka College in 2014 — and eventually vice president for strategic and diversity initiatives — she had already had her sights set on becoming a college president for several years.
What she didn’t expect was for her presidential dreams to materialize so quickly.
“I will say that it happened a lot sooner than I anticipated,” Wright says.
Wright essentially ascended directly from her role as a chief diversity officer at Eureka to the presidency at the small private college, initially on an interim basis in 2016 and later on a permanent basis earlier this year.
Wright says the experience she garnered in her capacity as the school’s chief diversity officer played no small role in that move.
“My role was bigger and more encompassing than just CDO,” Wright says, explaining that her role and responsibilities prior to becoming president included oversight for Title XI issues, communications and rolling out a new strategic plan.
“All of those things, including the role of CDO, is what really made this happen,” Wright says of her presidency.
