Some of the foundational scholarly research and programming around racism and racial bias at Penn State includes work being led by researchers at the Center for Education and Civil Rights, Rock Ethics Institute and Antiracist Development Institute, among others.
Penn State announced on Oct. 26 its plan to inventory, evaluate and enhance existing DEIB programs and efforts, which includes this appointment of a special adviser for institutional equity. In this role, Hamer will meet with individuals and groups involved with DEIB work, review existing data and reports, and continue development of plans that will guide investments into existing programs that will help advance DEIB goals, as well as steering early investments into a few new programs.
“Jennifer is an excellent choice for this role,” said Marcus Whitehurst, vice provost for Educational Equity. “Her long history and experience in DEIB from both the faculty side and the administrative side makes her ideally suited to lead this effort to evaluate the scope of Penn State’s DEIB work, and to identify where we can grow and enhance it. In the time she has served as interim associate vice provost, Jennifer has made a marked impact on DEIB at Penn State, including expanding the Faculty Pathway and Senior Faculty Mentors programs, as well as establishing the Equity Faculty Fellow, among other accomplishments.”
During the Board of Trustees Committee on Equity and Human Resources meeting on Oct. 23, the University’s current DEIB activities associated with the strategic planning process were reviewed. An overview of Penn State’s DEIB work included 56 unit strategic plans across the University. DEIB-focused components in these strategic plans contained 301 objectives and 1,138 action items. While the majority of units have discussed their DEIB efforts, most action items remain in the planning stage. Part of Hamer’s responsibilities will be to examine these proposed DEIB activities and provide support for moving some of them forward.
“There’s no question that Penn State should and must continue and elevate its work in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,” Hamer said. “As the Board of Trustees meeting revealed, there is a lot of effort going on across the University. My role is to take a step back and advise on how to translate the progress into a vision and set of goals that are institutionally coherent and coordinated. There’s great potential here — there is so much opportunity for stronger collaboration, a more planful approach and accountability.”
As special adviser, Hamer’s priorities will also include assisting with Bendapudi’s goals of closing identity-based gaps in students’ four- and six-year graduation rates, diversifying the faculty at all levels, and investing in equitable professional development opportunities for staff.
Hamer originally joined the University in 2019 as Penn State’s first associate vice provost for faculty affairs-faculty development. In that role, Hamer served in the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and led strategic efforts to expand and reconceptualize programs and services related to the professional and leadership development of the more than 6,400 full-time faculty across the institution. In addition to her current role in Educational Equity, Hamer serves as one of two Senior Faculty Mentors who report to Whitehurst.
She is also co-chair of the Faculty Advisory Council for Equity; co-chair of the University Equity Leadership Council; the liaison with the president’s commissions, including the Commissions for Equity, Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Equity, and Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity; director of the Midcareer Faculty Advancement Program, a three-year pilot to facilitate the advancement of associate professors to the rank of professor; co-lead on the recent survey of non-tenure track faculty to build greater community and support for this faculty population; and a partner in developing a women’s leadership series with Penn State’s Leading Advocacy and Action for a Diverse Leadership women’s faculty network.
Before coming to Penn State, Hamer was vice provost for diversity and equity at the University of Kansas (KU), where she specialized in access, equity and inclusion for students, faculty and staff.
Hamer has more than two decades of experience in higher education as both an administrator and faculty member, with wide-ranging experience in program creation and assessment, strategic planning, and mentoring. Her research interests include African American families, working class communities and matters of equity in higher education.
She also was associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in KU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; chair of American studies at Kansas; and interim head of African American studies and associate dean of the Graduate School at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hamer has taught courses in American studies; African and African American studies; race and ethnic relations; sociology; women’s studies; and other subjects at Kansas, Illinois, Wayne State University, and Southern Illinois University.
She is the author of two books, “Abandoned in the Heartland: Work, Family and Living in East St. Louis” and “What it Means to be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from Their Children.” Hamer also is the founding editor of the scholarly journal Women, Gender and Families of Color. Her research and essays have been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family and Critical Sociology, among other publications.
Throughout her career, Hamer has been recognized with various awards, including most recently the Elizabeth Kolmar Award for teaching and mentoring in American studies by the Mid-America American Studies Association in 2016. She is a member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and the American Sociological Association.
Hamer earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Texas at San Antonio, a master’s degree in sociology from Texas A&M University, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.