Advisory Committee Profiles

EQUITY AND INCLUSION ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS

The Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council serves as an advisory and working group for the coordination of the university's efforts relating to equity, inclusion and cultural competency. The committee plays a lead role in advising the creation and coordination of strategies for equitable and inclusive campus activities and outreach. The council is comprised of a chair and eight members consisting of cross-functional representation of employee groups across our main campus and the VA campus. Each member was chosen by virtue of their past engagement, present passion, and future commitment to equity and inclusion.   Our members look forward to your support and involvement campus wide as we strive to become leaders of  inclusive excellence.

 Felipe De Oliveira Fiuza
Literature and Language
deoliveirafi@etsu.edu
423-439-8342

Felipe is a Brazilian scholar who received his PhD in Spanish, Purdue University, 2017. Felipe is an assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Literature and Language and the director of the Language and Culture Resource Center (LCRC). Felipe is a poet, a translator, an interpreter and an author. His book, Ucideia, won first place in the Federal University of Espírito Santo’s literary contest and is slated for publication May 2020. In his spare time, Felipe practices Taekwondo, enjoys playing board games, role-playing games, and card games.

Adrianna Guram
Housing and Residence Life
gurama@etsu.edu
423-439-4446

Adrianna serves as the associate director for Residence Life in ETSU’s Department of Housing and Residence Life. An ETSU alum, Adrianna has been back on campus since fall 2013 where she has worked with her colleagues on creating a welcoming and inclusive community for students living on campus. In her free time, Adrianna enjoys working on completing her PhD, playing games with friends, and watching her beloved Green Bay Packers.


Keith Johnson
Office of Equity and Inclusion
johnsonk@etsu.edu 
423-439-5618

Dr. Keith V. Johnson was born in a little hospital overlooking the Choptank River in rural Cambridge Maryland. Born in a family of educators, his parents decided to relocate to even a smaller rural area in Hollister, North Carolina where he and his brother spent their formative years engaged in what many young boys enjoyed doing at that time; playing sports, hunting and fishing. Having college graduates as parents promoted a lot of intellectual conversation around the dinner table every night. Many of their conversations were centered on dreaming about the future and planning for what that is to be.  Keith's father was always the one who would tell them that “you could be anything you wanted to be, but you have to work for it”. With that said, it was during his middle school years when Keith decided that he wanted to be a college professor. After having figured out the pathway to becoming a college professor, attending college was inevitable. Keith received his BS and MS form North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC and my PhD from The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio. The rest is history. After completing graduate school, Keith's first appointment was at East Tennessee State University as an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology.  Keith and his wife never intended to stay at the university very long.  Twenty six years and counting, they are still here.  With three children, now adults, being empty nesters feels really good.  Keith eventually became the department chairperson and now in his new role, he is enjoying the duties of the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion. 


Mary Jordan
Community Member
jordonm@etsu.edu 

Mary Jordan, retired ETSU Special Assistant to the President for Equity and Diversity, serves as a community representative. 







Kim Maturo
Equity and Inclusion
maturo@etsu.edu 
423-439-4445

Kim Maturo serves as the office coordinator for the Office of Equity and Inclusion.  Kim enjoys travelling especially when it involves visiting her daughter in Nashville or son in Connecticut.  She also loves working in her yard, watching baseball and hockey, and listening to live music.  She is a faculty commons board member and on the leadership team of a recovery ministry at her church.  Kim believes that embracing our differences can lead to a more enriched life.  




Antonio Rusinol
Quillien College of Medicine, Diversity Council
rusinol@etsu.edu
423-439-8015

Antonio Rusinol is an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He grew up in Argentina where he obtained a PhD in Biochemistry, Tucuman National University. He received post-doctoral training at the University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada. Particular professional interests include research on the mechanisms of cell proliferation, atherosclerosis, and aging; application of new methods of teaching to medicine/pharmacy students; and promoting and supporting activities and events that celebrate diversity and develop an awareness of inclusion throughout ETSU and the Tri-Cities. Non-professional interests are mountain biking, volleyball, photography, and playing flute and guitar. He enjoys spending time with his family, a wife and two children. Antonio’s wife is a medical interpreter, his son works as a research analyst for ESPN, and a daughter who is a musician and music therapist.

Jean Rushing
University Compliance
rushingd@etsu.edu
423-439-8542

Jean Rushing serves as a director with ETSU’s Office of Compliance which oversees program oversight for Title IX of the Education Amendments, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act. She serves as an Assistant Equity Compliance Officer and a Deputy Title IX and Title VI Coordinator.  Ms. Rushing received her Master of Arts degree in History (2011) and Master of Liberal Arts in Archival Studies and Records (2016) at East Tennessee State University.  Ms. Rushing also teaches in the Archival Studies program and focuses her academic research on gender bias in traditional archival methodology, notably in the documentation of southern Appalachian experience.   Ms. Rushing’s focus on the inclusivity of women’s experiences in archive led to the reprocessing of one of the Archives of Appalachia’s most prominent collections in 2016.  In 2019, Ms. Rushing also founded an archival reading event, Readings from Visionary Women highlighting local women’s participation in and documentation of their experiences affecting change in local communities.


Joe Sherlin
Student Life and Enrollment
sherlin@etsu.edu
423-439-4210

Joe Sherlin serves as vice president for Student Life and Enrollment. He received his PhD in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland, College Park, 2002. He grew up in Sweetwater, Tennessee – Go Wildcats!  He enjoys reading history and poetry, watching sports, and jogging…very slowly :)  Joe also loves road trips with his spouse Erin and two daughters, Emma and Elizabeth.   One of his biggest passions is student success.  It is for that reason he chose to work in student affairs and has worked in Student Affairs and Student Life and Enrollment at ETSU since 2002.  Go Bucs!           


Laura Terry
Multicultural Center
terryl@etsu.edu
423-439-5872

Laura Terry is the director of Programming and Outreach for the Multicultural Center. She received her BS in Social Work and her MA degree in Sociology both from the East Tennessee State University. She worked as an Intake Specialist at the Roanoke Valley Mental Health Center, March-September 1985. From 1985- 1987, she became Program Planner for the Johnson City Senior Citizen Center. In 1987, she found her way back to ETSU where she became an Admission Counselor in the Office of Admissions, 1987-1994. September 1994, her role changed and she became the Director of Multicultural Affairs under the Division of Student Affairs, 1994-2019. Recently, her office has changed thus changing her title to Director of Programming and Outreach. In addition to her professional achievements, Laura Terry has been recognized for her 32 years of service to ETSU and as “Staff Woman of the Year”. She also serves the community through her student organizations and the annual UMOJA Festival. Lastly, Mrs. Terry serves on many presidentially appointed committees as well as task force committees.


Phyllis Thompson          
Women's Studies       
thompsop@etsu.edu                                                                                                            423-439-4135 

Phyllis Thompson is director of Women’s Studies and associate professor of Literature. She grew up in the Appalachian mountains, learning herbal remedies from her grandmother, trout fishing on the banks of the little Wilson with her daddy, and playing the piano and dancing the jitterbug with her momma. These early life lessons inform her teaching, research, writing, and community engagement to this day. Phyllis teaches courses on women in the archives, queer literature, and gender-based violence; is a certified Safe Zone, RAD, and trauma-informed care instructor; and publishes on women’s medicinal recipe books from the 18th-century. She has served on the Board of Directors for Holston Habitat for Humanity, the Advisory Group for the YWCA’s EMERGE Women’s Leadership Series, the TN Economic Commission on Women, and is currently President of the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association. For fun, Phyllis likes to play frisbee with her Border Collie Bob and whitewater kayak with her partner David.