Diversity is empowering. Meet the person determined to power that ideal at UNLV.
Seval Yildirim took on the role of UNLV’s vice president for diversity initiatives and chief diversity officer in July. But before she did, she had to do her research.
Before interviewing, she says, “I did not know a lot about the degree of diversity at UNLV and the depth of commitment to advancing equity and inclusion here. I did not appreciate the diverse communities that make up Nevada.”
With a chuckle, the Turkish-born immigrant admits to the faux pas that afflicts many out-of-staters. “I didn’t even know how to properly say, ‘Nevada!’”
She since has gotten it down, along with a better understanding of its people. “When I actually looked at how the landscape has changed over time and the richness of Las Vegas in terms of diversity, I was really attracted to the position. I was attracted to the vision that President [Keith E.] Whitfield presented to me in terms of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in a broad sense. UNLV is truly looking at whether we're building an equitable and inclusive community — it’s not just about counting who is here.”
Since arriving in the United States some 30 years ago, Yildirim has built an impressive resume to pair with her insights from the immigrant experience. She joins UNLV from California State University San Bernardino, where she served as the associate provost for faculty affairs and development and co-chief diversity officer.
Prior to that, she served in various roles in the law schools at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Whittier, and Villanova, as well as a visiting scholar at New York University. Among her cluster of degrees are a J.D. and LL.M. from New York University School of Law, an M.A. in international affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, and a B.A. from Randolph-Macon Woman's College.
Administrative chops? Check. Yildirim brings extensive experience in higher education, including recruitment and retention of students and faculty of color, pipeline building from high school to law school, and inclusive curriculum. She’s also served as pro bono counsel and legal consultant on various individual rights cases across the United States.
Currently on a UNLV “listening tour” to aid in the Division of Diversity Initiative’s stated mission to create initiatives to “nurture diversity, equity and inclusiveness” – known as the acronym DEI – Yildirim, as an accomplished Muslim woman in higher education, understands the message that her hiring sends to the community.
“When our potential donors look at me, they kind of see what they can do for our students — that if they support our initiatives that our students, too, can be a vice president in a Carnegie R-1 (research) institution.”
Recently, Yildirim took time to chat with the News Center about her journey from a first-generation college student to a position of vital importance at UNLV.
Did your parents encourage you to get an education while growing up in Turkey?
My maternal grandparents had the sense that girls did not need to get an education, so my mother had to argue to even go to high school. My father grew up very poor in a small village in Turkey. He didn't even have shoes on his feet until he had to start elementary school. He didn't have the opportunity to go to college because he had to work to support his family. So when my parents had two girl children, they decided, “We will do everything we can to give them every opportunity we did not have.”
Did both you and your sister pursue education?
My sister went to college, but she didn't like being away from home, so she wanted to just stick around where my family was for her education.
I've always been very independent. My parents always told me, “You can do whatever you want. Don't ever let anyone tell you because you're a girl, you can't do anything.”
With that support, I took an exam, got into a bilingual school in an urban area about four hours away from our small town. Since then, since I was 11, I've lived on my own. When I had the opportunity to get a scholarship in the U.S. and come here, I thought, “This is great, I'm going to try it out.” That is the sole reason why I'm sitting before you today.
What was the immigrant experience like for you when you arrived in America?
I came from a relatively urban area in Turkey to central Virginia, so it took some adjustment. I was the only Middle Eastern international student at my college, so it was lonely at times, but it also gave me the opportunity to learn so much about everyone else who was on campus. I just wanted to immerse myself in that community. I'm Muslim, but not very religious. I was invited to go to church by many people. I went to different churches, and it was just overall a learning experience for me for four years.
How have those experiences informed what you do now?
It really prepared me for what I do right now, which is relating to many different people from different backgrounds, building bridges, facilitating conversations, and really just building a community at the institutions where I work.
How do you look back now on the journey that brought you to your current position?
My parents made sacrifices to make a change in their family and in their communities through education. That scholarship that I got helped diversify my college (Randolph-Macon College in Lynchburg, Virginia). I want to make sure other students in my position, who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity, get these opportunities to access higher education.
I really believe in public higher education specifically, and I see our universities as engines of social transformation. I think we uplift our students and, by proxy, their families. We create strong role models in communities, and I think eventually that will shift how our communities see higher education and its importance.
Has your example had ripple effects in your own family?
My younger cousins saw me going to college and graduate school. I was the first to go to graduate school on either side of my rather large family. But my younger cousins decided, we'll outdo you, and they became medical doctors. One is an oncologist, the other is an anesthesiologist. They're very successful. I'm so proud of them. And I have no doubt their kids will do better than any of us.
I've seen these generational transformations, for example, at Cal State San Bernardino, where I was the associate provost. That's why I'm in higher education administration and specifically in the diversity, equity, and inclusion field — to help create lasting opportunities for all.
Your husband’s family came to America from India. Did they have the same experience?
My parents-in-law came as students from India, and like me, they do not come from privileged backgrounds. Through higher education, they uplifted themselves, and they made sure their kids had opportunities they didn't have. So my husband now has a Harvard J.D. and a Berkeley Ph.D., all because his parents came here and made sure that he knew he could do anything he wanted, and they supported him. I think we are both examples of multigenerational lasting impact in our families and communities.
We've heard you have a couple rescue greyhounds at home. Why did you gravitate to that breed?
I do live with two rescue greyhounds: Derya (meaning ocean) and Sema (meaning sky), both rescues from the racetracks in Tijuana. I've lived with rescue greyhounds for over a decade now. They are amazing dogs. They come to you having been through rough times on the racetracks and show you the power of hope, perseverance, and love. Both Derya and Sema came to us through Greysave, an amazing rescue organization in Southern California.
I also have three parrots: Leyla the eclectus, Ruya the African grey, and Dharma the blue and gold macaw. - I've lived with birds since my childhood in Turkey. My oldest parrot, Leyla, is now 21 years old and she was a rescue from a bird store that had to shut down after the 9/11 attacks in downtown New York City. Each of my animals has a distinct story and distinct personality, and life with them has taught me how to be a better person. I am very lucky indeed.
In our current polarized political climate, words such as “diversity,” “inclusion,” “equity” and particularly, “immigration,” can be triggering for some people. Is that a challenge you have to overcome?
Despite the differences we all have, we all deserve to be treated equitably. And that includes everyone. I rely on my own story- how access to higher education transformed my life. That resonates with most everyone.
What is a guiding principle in accomplishing your aims?
I think it's really important not to finger point, not to find culprits. I do not like the term ‘allies,’ for example. What does that make others? Enemies? Opponents? I think that kind of language is not helpful. I am about finding common ground and then let people see the real life stories, rather than me telling them what is right and what is wrong.
In creating initiatives to promote diversity at UNLV, what would you like the community at large to keep in mind?
Primarily to acknowledge, understand, and highlight that diversity is not only about race. Diversity includes all of us, with all our differences — it is about racial and ethnic identities, but also about differently abled individuals, different sexual identities, gender identities, different religious identities, different geographies. We all deserve to be here and to be treated equitably and be included. That's really what I'm trying to get at.
What convinced you that UNLV offered a great opportunity to promote diversity?
I saw that President [Keith] Whitfield valued this work enough to elevate the position to the president's cabinet level and start building a whole division dedicated to it. That says a lot. It says this is an institutional priority.
And I think there is momentum here. There is support from the faculty senate, from the staff, and definitely from students in terms of having an honest look at our institution. There’s also a great infrastructure already in place, a lot of great work already being done.
What are you learning on your listening tour?
I'm still talking to deans, department chairs, students, graduate students, our faculty, our staff, our administrators, and trying to really understand what my priorities should be. We have, of course, our strategic plan, Top Tier 2.0, and some of the objectives that are outlined there that relate to my division are increasing our faculty diversity and creating a more equitable institution.
I'm also really interested in outreach to our communities, our potential donors, and telling UNLV’s story to external constituencies so that they know what great work we're doing. It’s important to create pipelines, especially in our academic fields, to diversify our students and faculty bodies -- for example, in our STEM fields. I'm having conversations with our potential donors about supporting more graduate students in these areas in Ph.D. programs, in postdoctoral programs, and of course, supporting the initiatives we may pursue in terms of increasing our faculty diversity in these areas.
