Floyd Cheung Named VP for Equity and Inclusion

Smith College President Kathleen McCartney today announced the appointment of Floyd Cheung as the college’s vice president for equity and inclusion, effective July 1.

Cheung is a professor of English language and literature and of American studies at Smith. He also currently serves as director of the college’s Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning.

A 20-year member of the Smith community, Cheung teaches and publishes in American literature, American studies and Asian American literature and culture. He is a member of the Five College Asian/Pacific/American Studies Certificate Program, for which he served as the founding chair. In his five years directing the Sherrerd Center, he has focused the center’s programming on inclusive teaching; the center has organized panels, workshops and training in such topics as power and privilege in the classroom, engaging students as partners in teaching and learning, and the importance of microaffirmation and microresistance.

In making the appointment, McCartney noted Cheung’s commitment to Smith and to fostering an environment of equity and inclusivity at the college. “I could not be more pleased to have such a widely respected and committed leader in this role,” she said. “I am confident that Floyd has the support he will need to create a community in which everyone feels a sense of true belonging.”

Cheung said, “I have been studying race as it intersects with class, gender, and other registers of identity for most of my life. I have been incredibly fortunate to think about this topic through the lens of literature with the fierce and creative students of Smith since 1999. Without consciously planning it, I find myself prepared to answer President McCartney’s call to do the work of promoting equity and inclusion across all sectors of our campus community.”