September 19, 1996
New institutional diversity director takes office
(Date is for when it was reported in the Sophian)
Carmen Santana-Melgoza started as the new director of institutional diversity in Fall Semester 1996. Santana-Melgoza was a self-described activist who had worked with Latino organizations, Planned Parenthood, local chapters of the National Organization for Women, and many other organizations before coming to Smith. She had asked President Simmons during her interview for director whether the diversity issue at Smith was just for public relations, planning to refuse the position if it was. Santana-Melgoza planned to do a lot of personal outreach to Smith community members and to ask the community for “a commitment to make Smith a place where diversity flourishes. Without that (commitment), I am powerless.”
The full Sophian article on Santana-Melgoza can be found here (1, 10, 10.1).
[Last updated on October 16, 2018]