Diplomatic Discourse

Dr. Gretchel Hathaway began her work as Franklin & Marshall’s first Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on August 20th, 2020. Reporting to President Barbara Altmann, she provides vision, leadership and guidance on a full spectrum of diversity, equity and inclusion matters, working collaboratively with the F&M community to build a more inclusive environment.

M. Alison Kibler is a professor of American Studies and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. She taught a CNX class for many years, “Rights and Representations,” which engaged with many of these questions. She wrote a book in 2015 about the century-long battle to regulate hate speech in the US--”Censoring Racial Ridicule: Irish, Jewish and African American Struggles over Race and Representation.”

Joe Pritchett is in his fourth year at F&M and is the Director for Faith and Meaning, overseeing religious and spiritual life on campus. He is also co-chairs F&M’s Mindfulness initiative. His work and research has focused on religious diversity and interfaith engagement in higher education.

Colette Shaw is in her third year (and her second time around) at F&M and currently serves as Dean of Students. Her experience includes work as a Faculty Diversity Fellow at the University of Dayton and a founding member of the Race Reality Task Force at F&M. In 2018, she was a finalist for the Isaac Jordan Pluralism Award at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Shawn Carty has been at F&M since 2003 and currently holds the title of Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation. He served as advisor to IMPACT early in his tenure at F&M. He is a founding member of the Athletics Department’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion working group.

Jorge Mena-Ali was born and raised in Costa Rica where he completed his undergraduate education. He migrated to the USA to pursue a PhD program in Biology. He has been at F&M since 2008 as a visiting Assistant Professor in the Dept of Biology; during that time, he has continued to learn more about issues of marginalization, racism, and exclusion, particularly how they manifest in the sciences. Motivated by both personal encounters and the too many experiences of our students, Prof. Mena-Ali is committed to continue interrogating, addressing and combating systemic oppression in our curriculum (both in NSP/BIO courses, as well as the Accelerated DEI Curriculum Working Group) and on our campus (as part of the Day of Dialogue/Dialogue into Action committees, the People of Color Alliance, and various DEI initiatives in STEM fields).

Dr. McNulty is Chair of the Government Department and the Director of Faculty Diversity Initiatives at Franklin and Marshall College. Her research focuses on participatory democracy around the world, with a focus on Latin America. She currently co-chairs the F&M’s Campus Climate Survey Working Group and chairs the Advisory Committee on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion. These days, when she is not working, she is spending time with her husband, two children, and multiple pets.

Ashley Rondini has been at F&M since 2014, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research is focused on equity issues in higher education and in healthcare, and most of her courses are also cross-listed in Africana Studies. In her first two years at F&M, she organized the Civil RIghts and Social Change Program Series, comprising 16 campus-wide programs focused on issues of social justice and equity. She has also facilitated workshops through the faculty center focused on inclusive teaching praxis and social justice issues in the classroom. Professor Rondini has served on the Sexual Misconduct Committee, and has facilitated sessions for the Day of Dialogue.

Ryan Trainor has been an Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at F&M since 2017 and the faculty advisor to the Black Student Union since 2019. He served on the working group for the Bias Response System created in 2020. While his formal research is in the field of galaxy formation, he is particularly interested in addressing systemic racism in STEM disciplines and understanding how sociological factors affect the production and content of scientific knowledge.