Dr. Michael Snowden’s appointment as vice president for Diversity and Inclusion at Northwestern State University was approved by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System. Snowden was named interim vice president in June 2020. The appointment will be effective May 1.

A veteran administrator and student advocate in higher education with over 20 years of professional experience, Snowden has a leadership role in creating and coordinating programs and initiatives that will lead to intensified recruitment of African American employees in prominent positions on the faculty and staff and minority students to provide expanded participation and leadership in student organizations and activities at the university.

Since arriving at NSU last summer, Snowden has made several professional presentations and participated in campus events aimed at moving the needle in diversity, equity and inclusion and has attended meetings of local civic engagement organizations. He is developing a five-year Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan and plans to offer inclusive coaching sessions, training and workshops for students, faculty and staff. He also plans to develop a speaker series focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and host an NSU Inclusive Excellence conference, among other ongoing efforts.

Snowden came to NSU from McNeese State University, where he served as chief diversity officer, ADA coordinator, Title IX coordinator and director of Office of Inclusive Excellence since 2011. In that role, he was responsible for establishing a strategic plan of operation for cultivating a campus culture that embraces diversity, enables inclusion and provides equity to all campus constituents. At McNeese Snowden managed the development and implementation of the affirmative action plan, provided leadership of the university’s equity and inclusion policies for employees with disabilities, anti-bullying, prohibition against retaliation, the Vets 100 report and other requirements related to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies.

At McNeese, Snowden also managed Title IX administration and compliance with federal and state regulations, served as a diversity trainer for the campus, investigated complaints of discrimination and provided counsel to the president and upper administration. During his tenure he initiated a name change from Office of Equal Opportunity to Office of Inclusive Excellence and established equity and inclusion initiatives such as the Black Faculty Staff Council, Foundations Accounts for Black Faculty Staff Council Initiative, training partnership with DiversityEdu and Bias Incident Report Mechanism.

---