Dereck Rovaris, vice provost for the Office of Diversity, retired after nearly 12 years at LSU, according to university spokesperson Ernie Ballard.
Rovaris has worked with LSU since 2010, when he joined LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans as associate vice chancellor for Academic and Multicultural Affairs. Four years later, he joined the Baton Rouge campus’ Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
During his tenure, LSU received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award every year between 2015 and 2020 except 2018. The HEED award denotes universities’ “outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion,” according to the sponsor of the award, Insight into Diversity Magazine.
Diversity of the LSU student body increased significantly in the last 10 years, with Black student enrollment growing 87% and Hispanic student enrollment 130%.
The Reveille contacted Rovaris for comment on his retirement, but did not hear back.
Rovaris steered the Office of Diversity’s 2020-2022 Roadmap to Diversity and Inclusion released in June 2020. The plan outlined various ways to attract students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds to LSU.
Rovaris was also on the university’s Building Renaming Committee, tasked with evaluating names of buildings and places on campus following the renaming of the LSU Library. The LSU Board of Supervisors in June 2020 voted unanimously to remove Troy Middelton’s—a segregationist and former university president—name from the library amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s death.
Political science senior, Black Out LSU lead organizer and member of the renaming committee, Devin Woodson, said Rovaris contributed a valuable perspective and discussion to the group’s efforts.
“I love the work that he did,” Woodson said. “It is unfortunate to see that loss of perspective, because that engaging discussion and all those meetings we had, that’s important.”
In 2019, Rovaris was named president of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, an organization that represents African Americans in higher education and brings “issues pertinent to Black faculty and staff to the attention of the larger academic community,” according to their website.
“Dr. Rovaris had a profound effect on me as an undergraduate,” said Shea Ferguson, a graduate assistant in the Office of Diversity. “He was a constant source of support and hope. I looked forward to learning from him and receiving his wisdom.”
With Rovaris’ retirement comes structural changes to the Office of Diversity announced in an email from President William F. Tate IV on Nov. 18.
The office will now be under the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, with Jane Cassidy serving as interim leader of the expanded department. LSU will soon start their search for a permanent replacement for Rovaris, according to Ballard.
“My goal as LSU President is to build an environment that supports and values excellence, and to ensure that every student, faculty and staff at our university has the opportunity to be successful in their academic and professional endeavors,” Tate said. “To achieve the alignment necessary to make this vision a reality, we are reorganizing our diversity and inclusion efforts under the umbrella of our newly designated Office of Civil Rights & Title IX.”
LSU created the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX in April because of recommendations from the Husch Blackwell report that detailed the university’s mishandling of sexual assault cases. The office is tasked with handling Title IX cases and any behavior deemed discriminatory, and will be over the Office of Diversity.
“President Tate envisions an Office of Title IX and Civil Rights that is more broadly and holistically focused on social justice and human rights, including ensuring that students, faculty and staff are treated equally with respect,” Ballard said. “Full alignment of these issues is critical to LSU’s long-term success and is best accomplished by moving the Office of Diversity under this broader organization, reporting directly to the president.”
The Reveille contacted Dereck Rovaris for comment but did not hear back.
