OU alumnus and former state legislator Jabar Shumate was named OU’s Vice President for University Community at a press conference Tuesday morning.
In the position, Shumate will oversee all diversity programs, including admissions, at all three OU campuses, according to a press release.
Shumate will also work with OU President David Boren and college deans to make faculty decisions and help diversify the applicant pool.
“No one will be able to wave a wand and make drastic changes … it starts with visiting with college deans,” Shumate said about diversifying faculty at the press conference.
Shumate worked four terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was elected to state Senate in November 2012. Before his political career, Shumate was OU’s press secretary, according to the press release.
Shumate resigned from the state Senate in January.
Boren said at the conference that Shumate will be paid with non-appropriated, private funds during the first part of his service.
At the conference, Boren expressed full confidence with Shumate's abilities.
“I can’t think of anyone better to service as Vice President for University Community than Jabar Shumate,” Boren said at the conference. "He will wake up in the morning thinking about how he can make our community stronger and more inclusive, and go to bed thinking about it at night."
During his time as an OU student from 1994 to 1998, Shumate was student body president, a resident adviser and the first Resident Student Adviser for Couch Tower. He was also a member of the fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi.
Shumate said that he has maintained relationships that he built on campus as a student, and that these connections will help him serve in his new position.
Shumate said at the conference that he officially starts in June, but will frequently visit all three campuses before then to get to know the students and better understand their concerns.
He said that his first goal will be to listen to students' concerns and learn what the school is doing right and what it can improve.
"I'm going to find the excellent things we are doing and highlight those," Shumate said. "A family has to talk about the good and those things that are not so good."
Boren said at the conference that he looks forward to working closely with Shumate.
"He does not need to ask for my support — it is vigorous and it is there," Boren said. "When he speaks, whether it is to a dean, a faculty member or a student, they'll know he is speaking with my voice as well."
