Editor’s Note: Multiple errors were present in the original publication of this article, including a misspelling of Reginald Chhen Stewart’s name, an incorrect title for Joseph Ballard II and an incorrect title for Margo Foreman. The Iowa State Daily regrets these errors and they have been corrected.

Iowa State University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has had some significant changes in their staff. An interim vice president has been appointed and approved and the Division of Student Affairs has added another Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position to it’s portfolio.

Recently, former Vice President for Diversity Equity and Inclusion Reginald Chhen Stewart has left Iowa State after five years. He will be filling a similar position at Chapman University in Orange, California.

Temporarily replacing Stewart as interim Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is Margo Foreman. Foreman began her tenure at Iowa State in 2016 working as the director of equal opportunity and Title IX coordinator. In 2017, she became the assistant vice president for diversity and inclusion.

Iowa State will be conducting a search for a permanent replacement for Stewart in the upcoming months. Led by Toyia Younger, the senior vice president of student affairs, a team of 10 will conduct a search for a suitable candidate from a pool of qualified individuals selected by a national search firm.

In addition to Foreman’s new appointment, the Division of Student Affairs hired Joseph Ballard II in November 2020 as the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the campus life area within the division. He worked virtually from Minnesota throughout the pandemic and arrived on campus earlier this month.

As the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Campus Life , he provides leadership, guidance, direction, and coordination of the area’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. He will do this work in collaboration with partners throughout the university and greater Ames community, including within Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office. He has also been charged to help prepare the hundreds of Campus Life employees to better serve students in the upcoming years.

“It’s going to take time; in order to make the difference and impact that’s desired, we have to be fully committed, invested, intentional, thoughtful, persistent, resilient and also patient,” Ballard said. “I’m committed to it, and I know I have the support I need here to do it. One of the exciting parts for me is to know the support and commitment is there.”