MEMORANDUM TO THE MARIST COLLEGE COMMUNITY

FROM: DAVID YELLEN

I'm pleased to announce that I have appointed Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Addrain Conyers to be Marist's Director for Academic Diversity and Inclusion.  In this newly-created role, Addrain will advise me on campus diversity and inclusion initiatives to help us drive organizational change.  His main responsibilities will center on academic recruitment and retention, as well as inclusion initiatives.  Additionally, Addrain will be tasked with helping us integrate diversity efforts throughout the academic enterprise, in keeping with Marist's new Strategic Plan 2018-23.  In particular, he will advise the Deans as they advance their Schools' diversity agendas, providing input and helping to monitor the results of these efforts.  

Addrain's academic and professional background has prepared him well for his new responsibilities, and I believe he will have a strong positive impact.  Since coming to Marist in 2012, he has been a leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion initiatives at the College, having served as a member of the Diversity Council and as faculty adviser to the Black Student Union.  He also completed a full term on the Curriculum Committee, including two years as chair.  Addrain is currently the summer pre-college director for the Marist Criminal Justice Institute.  The Student Government Association has recognized him numerous times as faculty member of the year for the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences.

Prior to coming to Marist, Addrain was an assistant professor at The College at Brockport, State University of New York.  His scholarship has focused on criminology, deviant behavior, community corrections, and race relations.  He began his teaching career as a volunteer for Teach for America, serving as a third-grade teacher in West Harlem.  Addrain completed his undergraduate work at Boston College and received a Ph.D. in sociology with a focus on criminology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

I look forward to working closely with Addrain as we continue our efforts to make Marist a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming community.  Please join me in congratulating him on this appointment!

David Yellen