Leykia Brill Named Assistant Provost for Diversity at UMass Amherst

AMHERST — Leykia D. Brill has been named to the newly created post of assistant provost for diversity at the UMass Amherst, effective May 6. Brill will play a leadership role in the university’s ongoing efforts to make the undergraduate student body more diverse and to help foster an inclusive campus community that attracts and supports diversity in many forms. Currently, she works at Amherst College as associate director for student activities and the Keefe Campus Center. “This appointment is an important step in our ongoing efforts to increase recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups,” said Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy, who created the assistant provost position last fall. “In her outreach to under-represented communities, Ms. Brill will play a key role in promoting our campus’ values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and will help us fulfill our goal to create a climate where all students can thrive and excel.” As a member of the university’s Enrollment Management team, Brill will develop contacts and foster relationships with high school and community college personnel, communicate directly with prospective students and parents and collaborate with the Admissions Office in off-campus recruitment efforts. She will train admissions staff on ways to best present the diversity of the university, as well as how to speak about the value of a diverse campus community and work with colleges and departments to coordinate their diversity recruitment and retention efforts with those of Enrollment Management.

Brill will also help define and coordinate undergraduate recruitment efforts and marketing materials to reach underrepresented student populations. In her current post at Amherst College, Brill advises, directs and provides leadership training to the school’s activities board, social council, student association, radio station, yearbook and more than 100 recognized student organizations. She also oversees $100,000 in the student activities budget and its allocation for programs and student-organized events. From 2009-14, Brill was a member of the admission staff at Amherst, first as an assistant dean and then as associate dean of admission/coordinator of diversity outreach.

She was involved in developing strategies to increase the enrollment yield of underrepresented students of all backgrounds, focusing additional effort on programming for Native students. She also supervised an assistant dean of admission, two admission fellows and 14 diversity interns for on-campus events, diversity programming and outreach to community-based organizations. Her achievements included a 50% increase in American Indian applications during one admission cycle and the design of new marketing campaigns for Native student programming and general diversity programs. From 2006-08, Brill was assistant director of admission at Wheaton College in Norton, where she directed the multicultural admissions committee and planned programming and recruitment for prospective students of color. Brill earned her B.A. at Wheaton College and an M.S. in higher education policy at the University of Pennsylvania.