S. Brooke Vick, Ph.D., Vice President
S. Brooke Vick, Ph.D., serves as the inaugural vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Swarthmore. In this role, she leads institutional strategy, vision, and assessment of Swarthmore’s goals to develop and maintain a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming college community that supports belonging and equitable access for everyone. As a member of President’s Staff, Brooke provides leadership to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion which includes the Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX, and works in close partnership with the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Provost’s Office, Human Resources, and all areas of the College to coordinate and align mission-driven initiatives supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Brooke has spent 25 years studying, researching, and teaching about ways to reduce the effects of prejudice and discrimination and create communities where everyone is welcomed, supported, and can flourish. She began her career as a full-time assistant professor of psychology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., where she taught courses such as Psychology of Prejudice, Intergroup Relations, and Social Stigma, and led a research lab studying the psychological and behavioral effects of prejudice on its targets. Her scholarly work on the effects of prejudice and inclusive practices in higher education has been published in diverse outlets including the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Perspectives in Psychological Science, Liberal Education, and Inside Higher Ed.
After earning tenure and promotion to associate professor, Brooke began taking on leadership roles within the faculty to help center the need for inclusive educational and professional environments for members of minoritized groups, co-chairing the first college-wide diversity committee and co-writing the college’s first diversity strategic plan. Her work to reshape higher education environments to welcome and celebrate diverse communities later took her to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., where she served as the inaugural associate provost for faculty and diversity initiatives, eventually becoming the school’s first chief diversity officer.
Brooke joined the Swarthmore community in 2024. In her current role as a leader for diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, Brooke has worked to develop community and offer support to inclusive leaders serving in liberal arts colleges around the country serving as the co-president of the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Consortium since 2019. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Colorado College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from UC–Santa Barbara.
When Brooke is not working, she is spending time with her husband, two teenage sons, and her Saint Bernard Ava, and listening to domestic thriller audiobooks. A Pennsylvania transplant and huge sports fan originally from Colorado, if you catch her yawning on campus, it is most likely because she stayed up until all hours of the night rooting for her Denver-based sports teams.
