The university lost a pivotal part of its diversity services with the departure of C.J. Harkness.

Harkness was director of institutional diversity, multicultural student services and student conduct.

April 9, he became Director of Campus Diversity at Baldwin-Wallace College. Additionally, he hopes to become more involved in his efforts to make college more accessible for students in the greater Cleveland area.

Overall, Harkness valued his time at AU and gained many skills that will be beneficial in the future. Specifically, he learned administrative skills as well as how to work with others. He also increased his understanding of ways to offer resources to students and ultimately use his abilities to help them.

Although leaving to pursue these opportunities, Harkness said he will miss the students, faculty, staff and administration at AU.

“The majority of people genuinely care about the students,” Harkness said.

Throughout his years at the university, he was also thankful to be in an environment where he could grow professionally and develop his career, especially when he first began working at AU in 1999.

He started out as a resource for minority students and directed minority student services. He later added judicial affairs and student conduct before taking on his current roles.

Over the last 13 years, Harkness witnessed numerous changes in the university’s diversity services offerings. The office initially focused on providing assistance and other resources to students. It also strived to foster a sense of community with the students as well as aimed to spread the idea of diversity to the campus as a whole. As time progressed, the office expanded the concept of institutional diversity.

“We went from a focus on student success to a broader sense in making the university more inclusive,” Harkness said.

In addition to working with students, they brainstormed ways to change the curriculum and make it more inclusive to all types of cultures and students. To achieve this goal, they implemented various measures, such as training staff so they could be more aware of cultural topics and diversity. The office also incorporated a diversity unit for use in the Accent on Success classes for freshmen.