VP for Mission Integration and Inclusion
Vice President for Mission Integration and Inclusion
Donald “DJ” Mitchell, Jr., Ph.D., serves as Vice President for Mission Integration and Inclusion. He joined Molloy in February 2022 as the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DJ reports directly to President James Lentini as a member of President Lentini’s Cabinet, the University’s senior leadership team. In his role, he serves as the key advisor to the President and Cabinet regarding University-wide mission and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
DJ oversees the following functions, among others: Campus Climate Surveys; Campus Ministries; the Center for Access and Disability; DEI Strategic Planning; Employee Affinity Groups; the Lower Hudson Valley Catholic Colleges and Universities LSAMP program; Mission and Ministry; the Siena Center for Social Justice; the University-wide DEI Committee; DEI advisor to President and Cabinet; and Collaboration with Human Resources and other offices for strategic diversity hiring and employee retention.
In his role, DJ often draws on his scholarship that explores race and racism, gender and sexism, and identity intersections and intersectionality within higher education contexts. Publishing over 50 scholarly works, DJ’s research and scholarship have received national recognition. He is the recipient of the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s 2020 Emerging Scholar recognition; the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference’s 2016 McGraw Hill Distinguished Scholar Award; the American College Personnel Association’s 2015 Emerging Scholar Award; and the Multicultural/Multiethnic Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association’s 2014 Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship, among other honors and awards.
DJ holds a Ph.D. in educational policy and administration with a concentration in higher education from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, a master’s degree in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Shaw University. He also holds a diversity and inclusion certificate from Cornell University and the Certified Diversity Executive credential from the Institute for Diversity Certification.