BATON ROUGE - LSU is restructuring its Diversity and Inclusion Office to fall under its newly formed Title IX offices.

The news comes as the vice provost for the diversity office, Dereck J. Rovaris Sr., announced his retirement. On Thursday, the university announced Dr. Jane Cassidy, who currently leads the school's Title IX office, will continue to lead the expanded department. 

Read the statement from LSU President William Tate below.

As a flagship, we have the profound responsibility of being leaders on many fronts, especially in research and education. My goal as LSU President is to build an environment that supports and values excellence, and to ensure that every student, faculty and staff at our university has the opportunity to be successful in their academic and professional endeavors. To achieve the alignment necessary to make this vision a reality, we are reorganizing our diversity and inclusion efforts under the umbrella of our newly designated Office of Civil Rights & Title IX.

This move elevates these efforts in the university’s structure and presents a unique opportunity to increase our impact and make meaningful advances for our students, faculty and staff.

Dr. Jane Cassidy, who currently leads the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX on an interim basis, will continue to lead the expanded office while a search for a new leader is underway.

In the coming days, we will provide opportunities for feedback, suggestions and recommendations for improvement. In the meantime, please share any suggestions and feedback with me at tate@lsu.edu.

I encourage you to embrace this for what it is: the next step toward a stronger campus community poised for growing our scholarship, research and professional service. Together, we will aggressively move toward change that betters us all.