News

St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson ‘74 has announced the appointment of Reginald Miles as the college’s interim vice president for equity and inclusion. 

Miles came to St. Olaf in 2020 to serve as associate dean of admissions and director of multicultural recruitment. In that role, he worked with the Posse organization on student selection for the past two years and will serve as the liaison in the upcoming academic year. He created the Black and Gold Award, an employee recognition program for the employees in Admissions and Financial Aid. 

In addition, Miles worked with the admission team to recruit the largest incoming domestic multicultural student body in St. Olaf’s history and created programs and events to support multicultural students. Miles is a member of the Task Force For Every Ole, the team tasked with developing a new four-year pathway model for supporting students.

He will assume his role as interim vice president for equity and inclusion on Aug. 1. 

“Dr. Miles’ broad range of experience doing the work of equity and inclusion at a variety of institutions, combined with the relationships he has already built during his time at St. Olaf, positions him perfectly as our interim vice president for equity and inclusion to build upon the good work of Dr. María Pabón Gautier,” Anderson says.

Miles will serve as interim vice president for the 2022-23 academic year, during which time a search for the next vice president for equity and inclusion will occur. He will serve on the President’s Leadership Team, and lead efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion, including shaping the ongoing work of the Co-Creating an Inclusive Community initiative. Miles will lead the college’s Bias Response Team and chair the Council on Equity and Inclusion. 

Miles says his goal is for the St. Olaf community to feel valued and connected.

“I am honored and humbled to lead the community in this new capacity. I lead from my heart and transparency is the foundation of my work,” he says. In the interim vice president position, I plan to partner with offices on campus, such as Human Resources, on employee engagement; leverage what is currently occurring in departments and offices to retain faculty and staff of color; and develop a plan and strategies to close the gaps, and continue with campus-wide initiatives to create a more inclusive community.”

Miles earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University, an M.Ed in higher and post-secondary education from Arizona State University, and a B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has over 18 years of experience working in higher education, with direct experience in academic services and policy and curriculum development, instructing undergraduate and graduate courses, employee engagement,   enrollment management, multicultural recruitment, and program development. 

“My goal is to serve as an advocate for change as we (the community) enhance the St. Olaf experience for students, faculty, and staff,” Miles says. “ I am looking forward to working with the entire community in this new role.”