Lerner Diversity Council

Lerner is committed to creating connections and fostering dialogues that support diversity and equity.

The educational mission of UD is to offer learning experiences that prepare our students to live in an increasingly diverse and global world.

The Lerner Diversity Council (LDC) provides the Lerner College community the opportunity to understand and appreciate both the shared and unique background and talents that all of us offer – students, staff, faculty and alumni. The LDC focuses on building community and college climate; transforming curricular and co-curricular activities; and strengthening outreach and engagement, all with the central focus on diversity. Our aim is to foster diversity and inclusion throughout all aspects of life at Lerner.

Keeping the Momentum Going for Racial Justice

In this video, Jennifer Joe, Daphne McRae, Nicole Jeter West and Vina Amankwaa Afrifa discuss ways to continue the discussions about racial justice.
Watch the video

Diversity Programs

The LDC is guided by the Lerner Diversity Platform which focuses on curricular and co-curricular transformation, building community and improving climate, and strengthening community outreach and improving engagement.

Business Discovery Day

The Lerner Business Discovery Day inspires high school students from URM populations and first generation college student households to learn about the multi-faceted world of business.

Career Services

The Lerner Career Services Center provides personalized career and professional development guidance. Students can meet with a career counselor 1:1, be paired with an executive mentor, find a graduate internship and connect with a board member through the Lerner Edge Program. To learn more, go to https://my.lerner.udel.edu/career-services/.

UD’s Career Center also has a number of identity-based career resources to help support students: https://www.udel.edu/students/career-center/identity-based-resources/.

LDC Events

The LDC hosts many events throughout the year, including monthly Lunch and Learn discussions. Visit the Lerner Diversity Council Events page for more information.

Ph.D. Project

Lerner is a financial sponsor of the Ph.D. Project, founded by KPMG to support underrepresented minorities in pursuing Ph.D. degrees in business disciplines. Lerner will remain a financial sponsor at the doctorate-granting institution level, recruit faculty from the Ph.D. Project and use its networking to bring URM mid-career business managers into business school Ph.D. programs and place them in faculty positions.

Recruitment

Hiring committees for faculty, staff and administrative searches are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion and are tasked with identifying and attracting a diverse pool of candidates.

Scholarships

To encourage underrepresented minorities (URM) to enroll at the Lerner College, we fund five scholarships in the GET READY program through UD’s Office of Academic Enrichment.

Student Organizations

The Lerner College recognizes student-run organizations that support diversity initiatives in various fields of business.

The UDREAM Program

UDREAM (“U” Develop Resources for Excellence in Academic Management) provides academic support services to Lerner undergraduate students through the Academic Coaching Program and Peer Mentoring program. UDREAM’s comprehensive academic coaching and support is available for all students in the Lerner College upon request.

News: Lerner Diversity Council

Using Improv to Inspire Inclusion - Read how improvisational activities can create an inclusive environment and learn a few in-class exercises.
Students Are Partners for Classroom Inclusivity - UD Lerner College's Wendy Smith and Anu Sivaraman outline ways students can help create an inclusive educational experience.
What Factor Is Key to Enabling Student Learning? - UD Lerner's Wendy Smith and Anu Sivaraman explain why a sense of belonging is critical for learning and outline key factors for building an inclusive classroom.
Lerner Prof Goes Deep On Racist Images We See Everyday in Media - The Lerner Diversity Council Race and Business series started last May with a lecture on implicit bias and had overwhelming interest from students and faculty. The fourth and final event focused on the business of marketing.

The Lerner Diversity Council

The Lerner Diversity Council (LDC) focuses on building community and college climate; transforming curricular and co-curricular activities; and strengthening outreach and engagement, all with the central focus on diversity.

Council Members

Carlos Asarta, associate professor of economics, director – Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship
Asli Basoglu, associate professor of accounting
Shawn Futch, Class of ’20 – International Business Studies and current MBA student
Hasan Iqbal, Class of ’17 – MBA
Jennifer Joe, Whitney Family Professor of Accounting, Cohen Family Lerner Director of Diversity
Dianne Leipold, instructor of management
Christopher Lynch, instructor of finance
David Muir, assistant professor of marketing
Kyle Natter, current student, Finance and International Business major
Ali Poorani, associate professor of hospitality business management
Stephen Roberts, UDREAM academic program coordinator, advisor
Clay Rowe, Class of ’11 – Finance and Economics
Anu Sivaraman, assistant professor of marketing, faculty director of assessment
Carter Vaughan

The LDC is grateful to its founding corporate sponsor, KPMG.
KPMG logo

Contact

For more information about diversity at Lerner, or the LDC or any of its programs, contact:

Anu Sivaraman, Assistant Professor of Marketing
302-831-1779
anusiva@udel.edu