Kimberly Goff-Crews, who since 2012 has served as university secretary and vice president for student life, will take on formal campus-wide leadership of the university’s Belonging at Yale initiative, President Peter Salovey has announced. Belonging at Yale is the university’s ongoing effort to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming campus.
Goff-Crews will now have the title of university secretary and vice president for university life. “In her expanded role, Kim will lead all campus-wide initiatives that enhance and sustain an intellectual community in which each of us can contribute, grow, and feel a sense of belonging,” Salovey said. “Reporting to me, she will work directly with the deans and other university leaders to ensure that our efforts are strategic and unified. She will help faculty, students, staff, and alumni share information effectively on what is working well, so we can adopt the practices and policies that best suit the environment of each office, department, or school.”

Throughout his presidency, Salovey has emphasized Yale’s commitment to creating a campus climate and culture where people of different backgrounds and identities, and with diverse perspectives and interests, can flourish. As vice president for student life, Goff-Crews has worked to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts pertaining to students, and she has coordinated Belonging at Yale, which includes the ongoing work in the schools and divisions of the university, since it was introduced last year.
Read a Q&A with Goff-Crews about her role and Yale’s progress on diversity and inclusion efforts.
The initiative grew out of conversations on the Yale campus and at campuses across the nation in recent years about DEI, which also led the university to conduct an external review of institutional structures that prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment on campus. The review was conducted in 2018-2019 by Benjamin D. Reese Jr., the former vice president for institutional equity at Duke University and Health System and a national expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In his report (PDF), Reese recommended a clarified leadership structure for Belonging at Yale. In response to that recommendation, Goff-Crews will work closely with the President’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion; Richard Bribiescas, vice provost for faculty development and diversity; and Deborah Stanley-McAuley, who was recently named to the new position of associate vice president for employee engagement and workplace culture. Goff-Crews will also work closely with Weili Cheng, executive director of the Yale Alumni Association, on DEI issues pertaining to alumni.
Goff-Crews will oversee an associate vice president for diversity, equity, and belonging, who will support a culture of belonging and equitable treatment for all members of Yale’s community; lead civil rights protection efforts; and address incidents of discrimination and harassment. The associate vice president will also oversee the newly renamed Office of Institutional Equity and Access, formerly the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs, and other offices that provide programs and services.
To allow Goff-Crews more time to lead the Belonging initiative, her university governance responsibilities related to the Yale Board of Trustees and University Council have been transferred to Martha Schall, whose new title will be associate vice president for institutional affairs.
“I look forward to the opportunities to collaborate with President Salovey, other campus leaders, advisory committee members, deans, and students as we work toward creating a campus culture in which all members are not only accepted but truly feel they belong,” said Goff-Crews. “We seek to build a culture in which all people — students, faculty, staff, and alumni — feel valued because of their differences in background or viewpoint, not in spite of them.”