Moses Davis became the new associate dean for diversity and inclusion this July. Davis is responsible for overseeing LGBTQ Life, Campus Ministries, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Women & Gender Resources. He is also responsible for developing initiatives, programming and committees to foster inclusion of underrepresented students.
Davis is the second person to hold the position; His predecessor held the position for less than a year.
According to Davis, the greatest part of his job is engaging with students.
“I really authentically care,” he said. “I want everyone to feel like they belong here.”
Prior to coming to Hopkins, Davis worked at the University of Michigan as coordinator of residence education from 2006 to 2007. He went on to work at Penn State University as assistant director of residence life until 2013, after which he became director of the university’s multicultural resource center. He has also done his own consulting work and has hosted training around diversity and inclusion.
“I’ve always been very curious about diversity and inclusion,” Davis said. “When I started working, after I graduated from grad school, I started working in residence life, in student affairs. And the diversity stuff was just something that I liked to do.”
Davis cautioned against adopting a ‘checkbox mentality’ towards diversity work.
“Diversity is always a process,” he said. “This is my work: my love. I’ve been doing this work for years.”
He reflected on how people have expressed doubts to him over the necessity of diversity offices on campuses, as well as his own careers within those offices.
“It’s always the ‘you bad, bad person,’ and diversity is a bad, humdrum word. ‘Here comes the diversity police,’” Davis said. “My way of engaging in it was very much from a space of it doesn’t always have to be this hard, horrible conversation.”
Providing an example, Davis recalled how he drew the attention of students at another institution to underrepresentation of minorities in American media when he told them that the sitcom series Fresh Off the Boat was the only ongoing prime-time television show in the U.S. centered on an Asian family.
“That’s why it’s so important to engage in diversity stuff,” he said. “You realize right in front of you how huge a show like this is and how much pressure it is for the actors to not feel like their story is now the only story.”
Davis praised Hopkins for having “visual diversity.” He also expressed his appreciation for the flexibility of the University’s Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion.
Drafted in early 2016, the Roadmap outlines four major goals: diversity of the Hopkins community, improving opportunities for Hopkins members of various backgrounds, allowing for the engagement of diverse viewpoints and fostering a climate of respect.
“I don’t think it’s written to be a perfect document,” he said. “It should be a breathing document, to figure out how we all take part of it. And it has to be something that we all take part in... the question is, how do we get folks to see it as a guide, as a map to engage in this work? That’s easier said than done.”
He urged students to be proactive about helping further the Roadmap’s goals and to teach themselves about the experiences of different minority groups.
“That’s part of the buy in for folks to realize to sit back and not just point the finger at the diversity office, but to take ownership and say: ‘What’s my role in this?’” Davis said. “That in itself is a culture change. That kind of stuff is going to take time and conversation.”
Davis stressed that he and other administrators could not succeed without student engagement.
“Imagine what happens if we start to say to ourselves, I do have a say in how we make Hopkins more inclusive,” Davis said.
He went on to say that as associate dean for diversity and inclusion, he could not make students engage, though he could help foster interest and awareness around diversity.
“I do believe you can set the stage and do some mandatory pieces; For example, the Identity and Inclusion workshops can create a foundation,” he said.
Some students have criticized the University for its lack of faculty diversity as well as socioeconomic and ethnic diversity within the student body. Davis acknowledged these criticisms and hopes to make Hopkins a welcoming environment for underrepresented groups.
“We want to try and recruit and retain the brightest. Diversity is a part of that,” he said. “That being said, I’m not going to speak for my admissions folks because I don’t know their processes.”
He reemphasized that his role primarily revolves around building a welcoming environment for people at Hopkins, and that students should contribute to fostering such an environment.
“You have the right to breathe and be noticed,” Davis said. “You could engage with the administration, because you have a voice here.”
He encouraged students to invite him to events and to approach him with any concerns they have.
“Working together doesn’t mean we always have to agree,” he said. “Hear and listen. Those are two different things. Use me as a resource. I want students to know that I’m here and come by and engage.”
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