News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple, PhD, has named Lindy Wagner as director of the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI). Wagner will assume her new responsibilities on March 2, 2020.

       “Lindy’s extensive experience in both higher education, training and development uniquely qualifies her to lead CSDI,” Waple said. “Lindy will be critical in leading the work of CSDI and serving as a meaningful collaborator with students, faculty, staff and senior leadership on purposeful diversity efforts.

“I want to thank the screening committee for bringing four excellent candidates to campus, and Miriam Roccia for chairing the committee and providing interim leadership in CSDI since the end of September.”

Wagner has more than 16 years of experience working in higher education and arrives at SIUE after serving in the Office of Associate Chancellor for Diversity at SIU Carbondale since August 2019. She provided diversity and inclusion training workshops for faculty, staff and students, as well as student organizations. She is completing a doctorate in intercultural communication at SIUC.

“This is an amazing opportunity, and I am thrilled to become a part of the SIUE community,” Wagner said. “Being selected as the CSDI director provides a chance to collaborate with partners across campus and ensure students are receiving the best possible resources to make their campus experience a positive and memorable one. I am looking forward to continuing to move CSDI forward alongside the current staff and student leaders.”

Since January 2017, Wagner has served as an associate for the Sustained Dialogue Institute (SDI), where she provides training to campuses across the nation that allows students to explore race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability status and other topics.

Prior to her role at SIUC, Wagner served as associate director for multicultural student development at Appalachian State University from 2015-17 in Boone, N.C. and assistant director of residence life at SIUC from 2010-15. At Appalachian, she oversaw the campus Multicultural Center, LGBT Resource Center and Women’s Center, as well as the ASCEND Supplemental orientation and mentor program to welcome under-represented student populations to campus. For offering students outstanding assistance, Wagner received the Most Helpful Faculty and Staff award in consecutive years.

Wagner also was assistant director of residential life at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., from 2009-10. Her responsibilities included supervising assistant area coordinators regarding social justice awareness, residential education, social, passive and active programming efforts.

Wagner was a Syracuse University (SU) residence director from 2005-09 in Syracuse, N.Y. During her SU tenure, she also was an intergroup dialogue circle facilitator for the Conversations About Race and Ethnicity (C.A.R.E.) program.

Wagner earned a bachelor’s in international studies in 2003 from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa,  and a master’s in counseling and student development in 2005 from Kansas State University.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 13,000.

Photo: Lindy Wagner, director of the SIUE Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion.