A message from the college’s new Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion

By Nick Nobel
September 19, 2019
picture of WalkesSkyller
Assistant Dean of Diversity and
Inclusion Skyller Walkes, Ph.D.

Greetings College of Pharmacy Family,

My name is Dr. Skyller Walkes, and it is with great enthusiasm that I introduce myself to the outstanding community of the College of Pharmacy. I am thrilled to begin this year at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy as the Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Division of Pharmacy Practice.

Informed by our collective vision, I endeavor to advance our commitment and demonstration to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in the College of Pharmacy. Through the mediums of intentional engagement, open and authentic dialogue, and an integrated curriculum, we will inspire, prepare, and empower our 21st Century learners to be the innovative and culturally competent Pharmacy leaders of tomorrow.

Conscientious transformation is rarely easy, and less so, when tethered to rooted themes of identity, culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, ability, country of origin, and religion, as it challenges us to examine the depths of our acculturation and socialization processes. Furthermore, such critically-minded exploration encourages further meaning-making of our socially organized settings and how we might conjointly interact in those settings. Yet, it also encourages us to envision our unique selves as contributing members of a broader community in our plural world- a world in which we have a vocational purpose and commitment to serve.

As we foster professional and educational relationships in the College of Pharmacy through co-constructed knowledge production, we seek to design every aspect of our practices to speak to the collective consciousness of our faculty staff, and student constituents- cultivating an experience of diverse thought, affirmed identity, and engaging praxis. Through this intentional and concerted effort modeled by our leadership and exemplified by our student community, the College of Pharmacy espouses to engender and activate researchers and practitioners who will engage the world with a civic mind and global perspective of diversity to support ALL members of community. This is not only our aspiration for building a visibly diverse and inclusive community, but our firm, collective charge as a premier College of Pharmacy.

Yours in Community,
Skyller Walkes, Ph.D.

“The College of Pharmacy at UT Austin, ranked among the top three pharmacy programs in the country, aims to be an exemplar of intersectionally inclusive excellence through a rigorous approach to the understanding of intercultural engagement in our ever-expanding global world and knowledge economy.

The College of Pharmacy further labors to uphold a vision that inspires and challenges, yet explicitly affirms the students, staff, and faculty of our diverse community with authentic appreciation for the differences that engineer our pluralistic ingenuity. Our commitment to be intentionally inclusive in the culture, curriculum, and practices of the College of Pharmacy is resolute.”