Colgate names Madison VP for equity and inclusion

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Colgate University announced it has named Renee Madison vice president for equity and inclusion.

Madison — who is currently director of human resources for the City of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana — has experience promoting inclusion and equity in higher education and government.

She will start her new job at Colgate on Oct. 4. Madison will report to the Colgate president and serve as a member of the president’s cabinet.

A search committee, made up of both faculty and staff members, reviewed the pool of applicants, identified during a yearlong, nationwide search, per a Colgate news release. The interview process included extensive meetings with students, campus partners, and members of the board of trustees.

Before joining the mayor’s cabinet in Indianapolis, Madison was chief human-resources officer, senior advisor to the president for diversity and compliance, and Title IX coordinator at DePauw University. She also served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in the Domestic Violence Division of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and an associate director of enforcement for the NCAA. Madison holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from DePauw and earned her law degree at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Madison will serve as a core member of Colgate’s senior leadership team, providing oversight and strategic vision for policies and initiatives that promote an inclusive and equitable learning and working environment for students as well as faculty and staff members, per the release. With a staff of four, she will oversee the Office of Equity and Diversity, which currently guides hiring practices, Title IX cases, ADA concerns, affirmative action/equal opportunity, and the university’s nondiscrimination and anti-harassment processes.