IDEA Council Members

Deborah J. Cantrell is a professor at Colorado Law. Her scholarship focuses on legal ethics, lawyers and social movement activism, and law and religion. She has written extensively about the intersection of Buddhist principles, law and social change. Cantrell also holds the Schaden Chair for Experiential Learning and directs the Law School’s free legal clinic. She currently is training to thru-bike the Colorado Trail next summer.

Lance S. Carl, serves as the Associate AD – FB Administration & Student-Athlete Development. As the sport supervisor for the football program, he has daily interactions with head coach Karl Dorrell, the assistant coaches, support personnel and the student-athletes. He serves as the liaison to campus entities for the football program (Student Conduct, OIEC). In addition, he serves on the board of directors with Buffs4Life, an organization of former CU...

Michael Christy Jr. is a 7th semester Political Science major transfer student at CU Boulder. He currently serves as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion for the University of Colorado Boulder Student Government. Prior to his attendance to the university, he was enrolled at the University of Connecticut Storrs where he served as the Chief Diversity Officer of the Undergraduate Student Government, co-Chair of the University of Connecticut Senate Anti-Racism...

Kelsey Draper has worked at CU Boulder for five years in the Department of Infrastructure & Sustainability as the employee development manager. He is the program manager for the Infrastructure & Sustainability Mentor Program (ISMP), and the co-founder of the Infrastructure & Sustainability Inclusive Excellence Committee (ISIEC). Draper helped develop the Frontline Service Worker Computer Literacy Program, and the Staff Exchange Program with colleges/schools across the Front Range. Draper serves...

Jasimine Evans is the student services outreach lead in Career Services. She has lived from coast to coast in the U.S. as a military dependent. Her work has revolved around DEI, development, learning communities and crisis response. As a first-generation student, Evans completed her undergraduate career at the University of Arizona with a BS in psychology. She gained her master of education in counseling-student affairs at Northern Arizona University. She...

Lisa Flores is the associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in CMCI and an associate professor of communication. Her research and teaching are guided by her belief that public discourse is a central site through which citizens come to occupy the worlds we envision. Both her courses and her writing engage in dual interests in rhetorical studies, principally rhetorical criticism, and critical race/gender/queer studies. Flores is currently thinking through...

Patricia Gonzalez serves as assistant dean for inclusive practice at the College of Arts & Sciences. As a member of the dean's leadership team, Gonzalez’s primary responsibilities are to purposefully design and implement faculty and staff recruitment, development, retention strategies and culturally relevant pedagogies, practices and programs that result in an effective and welcoming environment and equitable student, staff and faculty success. Gonzalez holds a doctorate of education in organization...

David Hekman earned his PhD at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business and is an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business. He is focused on improving organizational health by examining sources of professional workers’ (e.g. doctors, lawyers, and professors) motivation, sources and outcomes of virtuous leadership, and remedies for pervasive workplace racial and gender biases. His research has been...

Kevin Hemer is an Assessment Analyst in the Office of Data Analytics working with academic units across campus to identify and assess student learning outcomes. He is passionate about using data to understand and improve the student experience, DEI issues and preparing students to participate in a diverse democratic society. Prior to joining CU Boulder in 2019, he worked for the research and evaluation unit in the School of Education...

Teresa Hernandez is a multi-generation Colorado native with migrant farmworker parents from the San Luis Valley. Both parents were activists at CU during the Chicano movement and both worked at CU. Her dad was a Custodian/Security Guard and her mom was a Counselor undertaking inclusivity work at CU for 40 years. Hernandez and her partner continue this legacy as alumni and staff at CU. Hernandez's work has focused on advocating...

Jeremy Jones joined the University of Colorado – Boulder Advancement Department as Assistant Director of Development for the School of Education in January 2020. Formerly, he served as the Development and Communications Manager at Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center and collectively brings over seven years of successful philanthropy, events, and communications experience to his advancement role. Jones has a passion for building relationships and inspiring others to make the world...

Professor A. Susan Jurow is associate dean for diversity & community engagement and professor in the learning sciences & human development program in the school of education. In her research, Jurow studies how learning is presently organized and valued and how it can be re-organized toward more equitable and just futures. Professor Jurow’s research is grounded in partnerships with non-dominant communities whose perspectives have historically been ignored or dismissed. In...

Xiang Li is an associate professor and the Chinese & Asian Studies Librarian. She received a BA in philosophy from Peking University, as well as an MS in Information and an MA in Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Michigan. After graduation, she worked as the bibliographer for Asian Languages and Studies, and then the Chinese & Asian Studies Librarian at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research...

As director of the Office for Outreach and Engagement, David Meens works with faculty and staff members using scholarship to build connections with communities across Colorado and around the world. Meens grew up on the western slope and is a passionate student of our state’s history, geography and social and cultural diversity. Since 2003 he has been involved in campus civic engagement and service-learning initiatives. Meens received his PhD from...

Ofelia Morales is the Associate Director of Financial Aid. As part of her position she is responsible for providing overall leadership to the Office of Admissions, Office of Financial Aid and the Bursar's Office. The general responsibilities of these three areas include, but are not limited to, the recruitment, selection, admission, evaluation and enrollment of a diverse population of students, the timely and accurate distribution and management of financial aid...

Catherine Oja is the director of integrity and compliance within the Office of Integrity, Safety and Compliance.

Fernando L. Rosario-Ortiz is a professor and director of the environmental engineering program at CU Boulder. Rosario-Ortiz, originally from the town of Aibonito in the mountains of Puerto Rico, received his BS and MS in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico and Caltech, respectively. He received his doctoral degree from UCLA in environmental science and engineering in 2006. He joined CU Boulder in 2008, after spending a few years...

Sandra Sawaya has been at CU Boulder since 2015 and is currently working in the Office of Undergraduate Education where she collaborates with schools, colleges and other offices to support and improve student success. Prior to that, Sawaya worked in the Office of Information Technology and Office of Data Analytics. She is passionate about using technology, data, and design to transform the student experience. Originally from Lebanon, Sawaya holds degrees...

As a current PhD student, Stamo wants to foster a culture that blends and weaves DEI issues throughout academia, rather than tacking on lists of DEI tasks. In her nearly nine years at CU Boulder, she has led four student organizations and three undergraduate research opportunities as well as participated in two faculty searches in the College of Engineering & Applied Science and the campus-wide search for Senior Vice Chancellor...

Susan Thomas is Director of the American Music Research Center and Professor of Musicology in the College of Music. A scholar of popular music and media, the majority of her research focuses on Cuban, Latin American, and Latinx music, with particular attention to musical manifestations of and reactions to transnationalism, migration and diaspora as well as the musical intersections of gender, race, embodiment and performativity. Before coming to CU, she...

Regina Tirella has served the CU Boulder community for 21 years. She is currently the Senior Director of Support and Safety Measures and Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC). She chairs the Campus Climate Response Team, which is a campus-wide committee that coordinates and collaborates on incidents of protected class discrimination and harassment that impact the larger campus. In addition, she co-chairs the...

Julie Volckens is Director of Assessment for the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC). With her team, she designed the Campus and Workplace Culture (CWC) Survey and oversees its administration, analysis and reporting in support of the IDEA Plan goals. As part of the OIEC Education and Prevention team, she also designs and provides training for the CU Boulder community for reducing and addressing sexual misconduct, protected-class discrimination and...