Plymouth State University has named Alberto Ramos as Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Diversity, Equity and Social Justice, becoming the first to serve in this role for the University. Prior to joining PSU, Ramos served in various diversity-related roles with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.

PLYMOUTH – Plymouth State University (PSU) has named Alberto Ramos as Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) and Director of Diversity, Equity and Social Justice, becoming the first to serve in this role for the University. After a nationwide search, a committee comprising PSU faculty, staff members and students selected Ramos, who arrives from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System where he has served in various roles, including adjunct faculty member, Diversity and Equity Success Specialist and Chief Diversity Officer.

As CDO, Ramos will be a member of the President’s Cabinet, and he will serve as director of PSU’s new Center for Diversity, Equity and Social Justice. He will work closely with senior leadership to revise and develop University policies and procedures, including developing, supporting, and advancing the Center as a hub where students of all backgrounds and the community can gather, learn, discuss issues, and more. Ramos assumed his role with PSU on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

“Welcoming Alberto Ramos as our first Chief Diversity Officer and the opening of our new Center for Diversity, Equity and Social Justice mark significant steps forward as we strive to become a community where all members, including students of color and others from marginalized backgrounds, feel welcome, safe and supported,” said Donald L. Birx, Ph.D., President, Plymouth State University. “Alberto brings strong professional credentials, but more importantly, a passion for supporting students in their journeys and fostering inclusiveness through education, dialogue and creative programming. We are thrilled to welcome him to PSU and to New Hampshire.”

Ramos brings extensive experience developing and delivering programs focused on improving inclusion and retention for students from a diverse variety of backgrounds. He has led affinity groups for black, indigenous and people of color students and employees; created paid diversity-related student leadership positions; and he delivered an antiracism series for faculty and staff that helped North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, achieve the prestigious Insight into Diversity’s HEED (Higher Education Excellence in Diversity) award. Ramos also created a 16-credit Racial Justice and Social Transformation certificate program at NHCC.

“I am very excited to join Plymouth State University and proud to be the first to serve in this important role,” said Ramos. “The PSU community has worked hard over the past few years to bring the voices of students of color and others from marginalized backgrounds to the fore, and to position itself to serve the larger community as a leader in creating a place that is fully inclusive of everyone. The new Center for Diversity, Equity and Social Justice is truly a blank canvas where students of color and others can feel safe and will define how it will be used as a catalyst for change.”

PSU’s new Center for Diversity, Equity and Social Justice is situated in a prominent location on Main Street, Plymouth, easily accessible to members of the campus and community-at-large. Ramos envisions the Center serving as a community gathering space and a hub for diversity in the Plymouth area.

Ramos, who is bi-lingual in English and Spanish, holds a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a second language, with a teaching English as a foreign language emphasis, and a Bachelor of Arts in travel and tourism and communications studies from St. Cloud State University, and a Professional Certificate in leading for inclusion and racial justice from Antioch University. He is a native of Minnesota, and will be joined in Plymouth by his wife Katie and their two young sons.

“The Plymouth community has already been extremely welcoming to us,” said Ramos. “We are excited to meet people and to get to know our new community, and we look forward to exploring New Hampshire.”

To learn more about Plymouth State University, visit www.plymouth.edu.

Newsletter