\u201cDiversity work is really creating spaces to help people build relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is the guiding principle of Kristin Johnston, Detroit Mercy\u2019s first University-wide director of the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. She began her position Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
![\"Kristin](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2022\/11\/side-kristin-johnston.jpg?resize=229%2C318&ssl=1\")
Much work is already being done across the University in terms of DEI, Johnston said. She sees her position as helping focus and unify it. She is also looking forward to getting to understand more about the Sisters of Mercy\u2019s Critical Concerns and the Jesuits\u2019 Apostolic Preferences so she can plan programming around those.<\/p>\n
Johnston comes to the University from Wayne State University where she was an advisor for Student Disability Services then in the Office of Multicultural Student Engagement. There she oversaw the Women of Color Learning Community, LBGTQ+ student initiatives on campus, student training and workshops on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and WSU\u2019s Rainbow Graduation, one of many popular year-end celebrations for minority or marginalized groups on campus. She is also a businesswoman, having run a bridal shop in Detroit for five years until pandemic pressures led her to close it.<\/p>\n
She earned a bachelor of Education with a specialization in interpreting for the deaf at Kent State University in Ohio and a master\u2019s degree in Learning and Design Technology from Wayne State.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis position at Detroit Mercy stood out to me because it seemed like a way to marry my faith and my love of diversity. The idea that it\u2019s the first position is also really cool because it\u2019s an opportunity to build something fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also allows her to stay in the city she loves. Johnston grew up in the University District and her mother still lives there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not here to change things, I just want to enhance what is being done, she said. \u201cMy goal for the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI) is to create spaces for students, faculty and staff to connect with each other, to lean into the traditions of the University and add a cultural piece.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very pleased to welcome Kristin to the University and look forward to the many partnerships she\u2019ll develop through her work,\u201d said Detroit Mercy President Donald Taylor. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important that Detroit Mercy continue to build on and enhance diversity, equity and inclusion for all faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends in the community, and represents a critical priority for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnston is married to a Detroit Public School teacher and they have two young children.<\/p>\n