Class News

Dean Risë Nelson named to Diversity post at Yale

March 5, 2022

Dean Risë Nelson, Director of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sterling Memorial Library
The Nave

Upon seeing the announcement that Dean Risë Nelson has been named the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Yale University Library, Tony Lavely ’64 emailed Risë Nelson: “Just as you wrote this with mixed emotions, I read it that way, too. We met in 2016 at the Afro-American Cultural House, when you helped me assemble an all-star cast for my 2016 ’64 Class Council meeting. Then, I saw you again at my 2019 55th Class Reunion and later in Atlanta when you came down for an event. And more recently, on an MLK Yale webinar. But I’ve always thought of you and the Afro-American House as inseparable! This past year, YAA asked me to sit on a DEI panel, a real honor for me. Still, I’m delighted that you will be taking your talents and experience to one of Yale’s most invaluable resources, as the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Sterling Memorial Library. I know you will brighten and enliven the place. Like so many Yalies, I’ve been unable to visit campus due to the pandemic conditions. Hopefully that will change later this year, so I can congratulate you in person. Will your new office be in the Library?”

Waldo Johnston wrote: “I was delighted to meet Risë Nelson in 2016 when Tony Lavely and I accepted an invitation following our Class Council meeting to visit the Afro-American Cultural House. We were welcomed by their most gracious, welcoming, and delightful Dean, Risë Nelson, who had arranged a student panel for our meeting. Waving us in, she proceeded to introduce us to many of the members, give us a tour of the facilities, and answered our many questions. Not a leader who would allow her wards to isolate themselves from their other classmates or withdraw from the events going on at Yale, she assured us that she insisted that they remain engaged with the university and their classmates in the classrooms, on the athletic fields, and in the residential colleges.”