Judy Jackson, who has served as UK’s first Vice President for Institutional Diversity since 2008, will leave the university at the end of the semester, President Eli Capilouto announced in a campus-wide email.

According to the email, Jackson made the decision to leave so she could be closer to her family in Boston, Mass.

“Students and student success have been the top priorities for Dr. Jackson since her arrival, and her contributions will be greatly missed,” Capilouto wrote in the email.

According to the email, Jackson led initiatives like the Whitney Young Scholars Summer Residential Program, which brings high-achieving minority high schoolers to UK for a two-week residential experience.

The Office of Institutional Diversity encompasses task forces for retention and female leadership, as well as LGBTQ and Latino students.

Jackson created the LGBTQ Task Force and established an LGBTQ Program Coordinator position, according to the email.

She also supported the Latino Leadership Conference annually and helped found the Black and Latino Male Student Success Initiative.

Additionally, Jackson created UK’s Task Force on Women’s Career and Leadership Development.

Capilouto wrote in the email that he will communicate the next step for the Office of Institutional Diversity soon.

STAFF REPORT