Carla D. Gary, J.D.

Carla is a native Oregonian who grew up in Portland and is the second of four girls. She is a UO graduate and received a B.S. in Psychology. She earned her Doctor of Law degree from the University of Iowa. Carla joined OIED in 2004, where she is currently an Assistant Vice President. In 1998 Carla began her post as Director of the Office of Multicultural Academic Support and as University Advocate. In her current role, she heads up Portland Initiative, a collaborative effort to engage the Portland Public Schools, UO business partners, and community agencies and groups on behalf of underrepresented students. Her primary focus is on African Americans. She is responsible for providing leadership to staff who assist students in successfully negotiating the world of higher education.

As University Advocate, Carla was charged with coordinating the various diversity and multicultural initiatives at the University of Oregon, businesses, and general communities. To this end, she worked closely with the Provost and Deans toward the creation of a comprehensive campus diversity plan and the creation of a senior office whose charge is the oversight of issues of institutional equity.

Carla returned to UO after working as Associate Dean of Faculty, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Pittsburgh. In this capacity, she was responsible for encouraging and directing affirmative actions in faculty hiring and development as well as graduate student admission and retention.

Through curriculum transformation, campus climate assessments, and the establishment of university, business, and educational community collaborations, UO is setting a tone for ensuring that diversity is central to the core mission of the institution. Most recently, Carla was a founding member of the Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC), using her relationships and roles with the provost, deans, and greater University community to develop this office. CoDaC is a vehicle for engaging research, facilitating dialogue, and creating programming around issues of race and gender, as well as other segments of the community. It responds to the various needs of University citizens and the local community in addressing the continuing challenges and opportunities for collaboration and cross-cultural communication. In addition CoDaC is poised to attract and encourage greater regional and national interaction and involvement wherever these conversations take place.

Carla is also a national consultant on issues including management of a diverse workforce, multicultural leadership and cross-cultural communications, the politics of race and gender in higher education, and related topics. She does motivational speaking on a number of subjects, including self-empowerment, motivation and self-esteem, issues and dynamics of interpersonal communications and the power and promise of community.

Her belief in the transformative properties of education is the guiding force that compels her to engage people to see themselves and others through new eyes. She has not abandoned her interest in the law and continues to present on topics such as the legal implications of diversity, the role of the law, and the sometimes-difficult partnerships and often opposing dynamics between race and gender.

Council and Committee Responsibilities:
Student Affairs Council
Large Group Administrative Council
Interagency Diversity and Equity Coalition (IDEC)
Task Force for Integrated Marketing and Strategic Communications
Lane County Human Rights Task Force
Human Rights Commission
City of Eugene MLK Celebration Committee
City of Eugene '08 Olympic Trial Committee (BOTT)
University Olympics '08 Committee
African American Youth Leadership Conference Committee
Education Equity and Leadership Partnership 
African American Alumni Association Development Committee
Portland Community Partnerships
President's Council on Race (PCR)