Glinda Rawls has been promoted to director of multicultural life at Hope College.
Rawls, who joined the Hope staff in 1999, has been serving as interim director of multicultural life since the fall of 2001. The position's scope is being expanded to include more outreach to faculty, staff, prospective students and alumni of the college in addition to continued emphasis on working with current Hope students.
"Glinda is very capable of this additional responsibility, and we look forward to the significant contribution that she will make to the life of the college," said Dr. James Bultman, president of Hope College.
As interim director of multicultural life, Rawls has provided advisory support to the college's student of color organizations, including the Black Student Union, Hope's Asian Perspective Association (HAPA) and the Hispanic Student Organization. She also planned and coordinated campus-wide programs designed to celebrate diversity and enhance multicultural understanding, such as the college's Cesar Chavez Address, Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month events, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service, Women of Color, and the Dialogue on Race series.
Her new appointment is through the Provost's Office, which administers Hope's overall efforts to improve minority participation at the college.
Rawls joined the Hope staff as assistant director of multicultural life and as resident director for Scott Hall, which houses the college's Phelps Scholars Program, a residence-based program that focuses on diversity issues. She served in both capacities for two years, until becoming interim director of multicultural life last fall.
In 2001, Hope students elected her recipient of the "Outstanding Hope Woman-Staff" award, presented by the Women's Issues Organization.
Rawls represents Hope on the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) Institutional Committee for Educational Equity (ICEE). She serves on the Executive Board of the Michigan College Personnel Association as chair of the New Professionals Committee, through which role she has coordinated two new professional conferences.
She is also involved in the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). With ACPA, she serves as a conference volunteer and as a program proposal reviewer for the annual conference, recently held in Los Angeles, Calif. With NASPA, she has been a conference volunteer and served as a site supervisor for two Minority Undergraduate Fellows Program (MUFP) interns.
Prior to coming to Hope, Rawls held a variety of positions while pursuing her master's degree at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Allendale, most recently as assistant in academic advising and student services in the School of Education. She currently serves as treasurer of the College Student Affairs Leadership Alumni chapter at GVSU, and is also a member of the university's Alumni Board.
Rawls graduated from De Paul University in Chicago, Ill., in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in communication. She completed her master's of education, with an emphasis on college student affairs leadership, at Grand Valley in April of 1999.