Mazaris to join Salem College as VP for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

A message from Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer José Villalba

Today I write to share that Dr. AJ Mazaris, Assistant Vice President for Equitable Policy and Director of the LGBTQ+ Center, has been named the inaugural Vice President for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Salem College. AJ will continue in their roles at Wake Forest through July 31st. I am excited for this next phase in AJ’s career in higher education, as well as for our colleagues at Salem College. However, I would be remiss to not acknowledge the loss that their departure is to our institution, and particularly for our students, staff, and faculty.

Those who have had the privilege of working with AJ know that they are a creative and innovative leader who believes deeply in the power of higher education. They arrived at Wake Forest in the fall of 2011 to serve as the founding director of the LGBTQ Center. Under their leadership, the LGBTQ+ Center – as it is now called – has flourished in size, programming, and advocacy efforts. AJ has created programs and initiatives that LGBTQ Centers across the country refer to as best practices, including the Change Agents Student Leadership Development Program, Wake Forest’s LGBTQ-Inclusive Advising Program, and LGBTQ-specific fundraising and alumni engagement. Additionally, in a field in which LGBTQ Centers often are known for being primarily white spaces, AJ has consistently worked to center the needs and experiences of queer and trans students of color.

AJ has also worked with students and colleagues in departments and offices across the institution to help them build capacity and develop more equitable and inclusive practices. AJ has led courageously in numerous settings, including the Bias Incident Reporting team, countless committees on policies and processes enhancements, and perhaps most critically on the President’s Commission on LGBTQ Affairs (2013-2014), to further increase and institutionalize a sense of belonging on our campus. Additionally, in their role as AVP for Equitable Policy, AJ authored a series of recommendations for the President’s Commission on Race, Equity, and Community aimed at increasing racial diversity and economic access amongst our admitted students, as well as co-chaired the Committee on the Intersections of Incidents of Bias, Expression, and Conduct.

In addition to their work in the LGBTQ+ Center and within ODI, AJ has served as a part-time Assistant Teaching Professor in the History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies departments, where they are known for creating transformative learning experiences that are steeped in the engaged humanities. AJ is core faculty for the Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies minor, and has guided their “Queer Public Histories” class in collecting over 60 oral histories about Wake Forest’s LGBTQ history. Since 2014, AJ has also served as a lower division advisor, and piloted and overseen Wake’s innovative LGBTQ-Inclusive Advising Program. In 2021, AJ was awarded the Excellence in Advising Award, in recognition of their dedication to the advising process.

Personally, I would like to thank AJ for being a generous and thoughtful colleague. We both started at Wake Forest during the same term back in 2011. I didn’t know at the time how much our paths would cross during our collective time at the institution, nor could I have foretold how much we would work together on the things that matter so much to our institution. Thank you, AJ, for an incredible 11-year run at Wake Forest, and for all that you have devoted to our students, faculty, and staff.