Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leticia S.E. Haynes ’99 will leave the College on June 30, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email on March 18. Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Professor of Geosciences José Constantine will serve as interim vice president starting July 1. A national search for a permanent successor will begin in the fall.
Haynes has served in her role since July 2015. She is among the longest-serving members of the president’s senior staff and among the longest-serving vice presidents in diversity, equity and inclusion work in higher education nationwide, according to Assistant Vice President and Director of Pathways for Inclusive Excellence Ivonne García.
Haynes said she sees the move as a professional transition rather than a conclusion. “I’ve had the opportunity to advance this important work — ensuring meaningful access to education — from many perches, and I’m looking forward to doing that again soon from a new and different perch,” she wrote in an email to the Record.
As a student at the College, Haynes majored in history, served as a Junior Advisor to the Class of 2001, performed with Kusika, a student drumming and dance group focusing on styles from Africa and the African diaspora, and sang with the Gypsy Melodies, a soul music a cappella group. She also co-led Students Promoting Awareness, Respect, and Community, a program that worked with the Multicultural Center — now the Davis Center — to engage the College and adjacent community in discussing identity and “elevating the experiences of community members,” according to Haynes.
After graduating, Haynes was an elementary school teacher in New York City before earning a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She then served as a policy advisor for Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, clerked for a federal judge, and was an attorney at a global law firm before spending seven years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She left the NAACP in 2015 to assume her position at the College.
During her time at the College, Haynes led the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI), expanding its role across campus and overseeing efforts related to faculty and student diversity, campus programming, and anti-discrimination, according to Mandel’s email. She oversaw several initiatives and offices: Claiming Williams, Williams Reads, the Diversity Advisory Research Team, the Committee on Diversity and Community, the Title IX office, and the Office of Intimate Violence Prevention and Response.
Haynes reflected on the breadth of her work at the College. “I’m extremely proud of what I’ve accomplished in partnership with the OIDEI team and many partners across campus,” she wrote.
Constantine noted Haynes’ role in planning for the construction of the Davis Center and her broader impact on shaping institutional change at the College in an email to the Record. “That work reflects not just a vision, but a deep investment in community that will benefit Williams for generations,” he wrote. “On a personal level, I am deeply grateful for her mentorship and support.”
García also described the construction of the Davis Center as one of Haynes’ legacies at the College. “She pushed that project through from inception to completion, ensuring it became a central aspect of campus life, as it is today,” she wrote in an email to the Record.
García, who left her role at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2023 to join Haynes’ team, said Haynes’ professional record drew her to the College. “I met her in 2018 … and I was so impressed with her work here at Williams that when the position opened, … I didn’t hesitate to apply,” García wrote.
Constantine, who will take over as interim vice president, has served as associate dean for two years. In that role, he co-chaired the Committee on Diversity and Community, supported the development of training workshops for Division III teaching assistants, and helped establish the College’s coordinate program in Native American and Indigenous Studies. According to Mandel, more information about the national search process for Haynes’ permanent replacement will be shared in the fall.
Mandel said the College will hold a gathering to celebrate Haynes before the end of the term. “I will miss her passion, expertise, ethical sense, and sharp wit around the Senior Staff table,” she wrote in her campus-wide email. “She has worked hard and done much for the people and community of Williams.”
