Blane Harding is the new director of the Center for Student Cultural Diversity at the University of Nevada at Reno. In accepting his new position, Harding said, “I look forward to working with faculty, staff, and students to increase cultural competency across campus, support student success in terms of retention and graduation, and support the mission and vision of the institution.
Harding resigned from his post as director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Kansas on May 1. At that time, Harding voiced his frustration at the lack of progress in raising Black student graduation rates at the University of Kansas. He told the student newspaper, “I just wish that central leadership would do something concrete to support students of color. How long have we known the Black 6-year graduation rate is at 46 percent? Two years. And we still don’t have a program in place. I’ve been saying we need it, the students have been saying it, the Senate has been saying it, but there’s still nothing concrete in place. I can’t stay around and watch that anymore.”
A native of Upstate New York, Harding is a graduate of the College at Brockport of the State University of New York System. He holds a master’s degree in nineteenth-century American history from Colorado State University.
