OBU recently announced the appointment of Beverly J. Glover as vice president of university culture. Glover has served as interim vice president for the past two years. She is the university’s first African-American to serve on the executive cabinet.
In her recent role as interim vice president of university culture, Glover established significant groundwork in providing tools and support for identifying and addressing systemic barriers to a more diverse campus community. She will continue that process in order to promote new pathways for transforming the university’s culture into one that prioritizes being welcoming and hospitable to all people while remaining true to its Christian values and principles. Glover is building the infrastructure necessary to create a culture of belonging throughout the campus.
Glover believes there are five critical factors necessary to take root and make an enduring impact at OBU. Those factors include an accurate evaluation of the current campus culture, the strategies employed to create a culture of belonging, the structure needed for various groups to come together to work on a lasting solution, the skills, knowledge and motivation needed throughout the campus community to implement sustainable change.
Since the establishment of the Office of University Culture two years ago, OBU has seen significant progress. During that time, Glover has conducted a campus-wide climate survey; worked closely with student affinity groups on campus; delivered diversity training to the executive cabinet, faculty, administrators and staff; launched an online diversity training series for students and initiated a strategy for stronger engagement of OBU with the surrounding communities.
“How exciting it is to see the university president and the board of trustees establish kingdom diversity as a strategic priority for OBU. I am looking forward to continuing to partner with President Thomas and the OBU executive cabinet as a trusted advisor and change agent. I fully appreciate the authorization to work with all levels of the University, from students to faculty, staff, and administration, and even board members, alumni, and community supporters to move us forward in this area,” she said.
“Being charged with providing vision, leadership, strategic planning and oversight to our kingdom diversity initiatives makes it possible to identify and address barriers that hinder our efforts to develop a sustainable culture of unity, support and belonging for all students, staff, and faculty members, regardless of their backgrounds and lived experiences. I am aware of the challenging task to embed this into our culture, policies, processes and ways of thinking from a distinctly Christian perspective. Nevertheless, we are totally committed to creating pathways to a more hospitable environment and to holding ourselves accountable for results and positive change. I will trust God for wisdom, direction, and energy to do the work,” Glover said.
Dr. Heath A. Thomas, OBU president, said, “Guided by Scripture, OBU works to see kindness, mercy and humility on display in our students, faculty and staff, because we desire to live out our Christian faith. OBU strives to instill the biblical values of love of God and love of neighbor within our university. The installation of the vice president for university culture is designed to help us do this better and with consistency across all areas of campus. We continue to develop a culture that engages our diverse world and sees people the way Jesus sees people.”
“B.J. Glover's experience and proven leadership will help OBU move forward in our university culture. She is an accomplished professional, with decades of experiences in leading organizations in diversity initiatives. Her deep Christian faith, her knowledge, her love for our students and her passion for our mission all came together and made her the obvious choice for this role. She is committed to help us make positive change governed by Christian Scripture, committed to our mission, and driven by Christ’s love. We are thrilled to have her on our team.”
Glover is the founder of B.J. Glover Learning and Consulting, helping organizations and individual clients reach their desired goals through consulting, leadership development and professional coaching. She is an entrepreneur, human resources leader, public speaker and former television news anchor and talk show host, with decades of experience in helping organizations with their diversity goals.
Growing up in segregated communities and schools in the deep south, Glover later spent time living in Amsterdam. She retired in 2015 from Johnson Controls, then a $55 billion Fortune 100 global enterprise. While there, she earned a Master of Science in human resource development at Villanova University as well as the SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications.
Glover is a certified professional coach and a certified equal employment opportunity investigator who has investigated dozens of discrimination cases filed against federal agencies around the country. She has served as vice president of community outreach for the Association for Talent Development. Glover previously served two terms as vice president of diversity for the Oklahoma City Human Resources Society and for the Oklahoma State HR Council, where she traveled around the state training HR professionals on diversity topics. She also served as an adjunct professor at Mid-America Christian University, where she taught upper-level courses in human resources.
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