Michele C. Deramo named director of diversity education and initiatives
Michele C. Deramo has been named director of diversity education and initiatives in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at Virginia Tech.
In her new position, Deramo will plan and implement customized educational programs that advance the Virginia Tech Principles of Community. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion’s mission is to promote, sustain, and advance an environment that supports principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and community.
She will also oversee the Diversity Development Institute, which aims to enhance university diversity efforts for fostering a more inclusive environment. Her responsibilities will include planning the curriculum, developing new courses, and identifying and preparing workshop facilitators. In addition, she will develop and implement the Institute for Inclusive Pedagogy, a summer program for teaching faculty that advances instructional practices for promoting inclusion, critical inquiry, and higher level awareness regarding diversity.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1995, Deramo was hired that year as the first director of service learning and has helped to build a very extensive service-learning and community engagement program at the university. She has raised more than $1.2 million in federal and private funds to support this effort.
In 2008, Deramo received a special commendation for Outstanding Contributions to Service-Learning in Higher Education at the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education.
Throughout her career, issues of race, ethnicity, class, and gender have figured prominently in her life and work. Deramo is pursuing a doctoral degree in the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought program at Virginia Tech with a focus on cultural and social theory.
Deramo received her bachelor’s degree from Seton Hill University, a master’s degree from Duquesne University, and a master’s degree from Iliff School of Theology.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
