Framingham State University is pleased to announce the hiring of Millie Gonzalez as the University’s Interim Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO). Gonzalez has been working at Framingham State since 2007, most recently as the Emerging Technologies and Digital Services Librarian. She has been an active member of the University’s Diversity and Inclusion Council since its inception in 2008 and has served as its chair since 2010.

“It is with great pride, excitement and humility that I accept the position of Chief Officer of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement,” says Gonzalez. “I look forward to building upon the solid foundation of Inclusive Excellence with the support of our students, faculty, staff and community partners.”

Gonzalez replaces former CDIO Sean Huddleston, who stepped down in May to accept a position as the inaugural Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at the University of Indianapolis. Gonzalez has agreed to take on the post on an interim basis for two years.

“For the past decade, Millie has been deeply involved in the University’s efforts to become a more diverse and inclusive institution,” says Framingham State President F. Javier Cevallos. “She understands our community and knows the strengths and challenges we face around these issues. I have the highest confidence that she will thrive in this position.”

At FSU, Gonzalez established the Whittemore Library’s Diversity Advisory Committee (LDAC), and served as the Vice-Chair of the MSCA Library committee. She has also successfully authored three grants related to diversity and inclusion, including two from the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Library Association: “Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys,” and “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History”; and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners LSTA grant: “Serving People with Disabilities.”

She is also a former president of REFORMA Northeast, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. Gonzalez holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Hamilton College, and an MBA and MLS from Simmons College.

Gonzalez says her goals in the new position include studying student assessments to gain a better understanding of achievement gaps that exist among different populations, as well as redesigning the school’s minor in diversity.

Framingham State created the post of CDIO in 2014 as an Executive Staff level position. The University’s efforts around diversity and inclusion have been recognized with a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award each of the past three years by INSIGHT into Diversity magazine.