This public archive attests to the advocacy, support, critical engagement and mentorship that Richard Chavolla provided for students, faculty and staff at New York University while he was the Director of Multicultural Education and Programs. We wish Richard all the best in his future endeavors, and we will miss him here at NYU.

If you would like to add photographs or letters, please contact the webmaster. Note that the texts below are excerpts from longer letters. This web page is supported and maintained by the Native American and Indigenous Students' Group, a student All-Square Club at NYU.

I am a first year student in the Anthropology PhD program here at NYU.  I am writing to tell you about the wonderful experiences I had with Richard Chavolla in his capacity as Director of the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs. As a first generation college student and a Native person from a small community, I have found adjusting to New York City and to NYU to be at times an alienating, frustrating, and lonely.   
I first met Richard while I was a prospective student, and I can say without hesitation that he was the most persuasive and knowledgeable representative of the University that I met during my visit. His knowledge of the opportunities available, and willingness to spend lots of time searching out contacts and information for me, even when I wasn’t officially under his charge, astounded me.  Richard was one of the principal reasons I chose to come to NYU, instead of one of the many other prestigious universities to which I had received admission (including Berkeley and University of Chicago).  
While I have been at NYU, Richard has spared no warmth, time, or effort to make me feel welcome, connected, and supported.  ... I sincerely hope that he can find an institutional home where he can continue to make a difference in the lives of students.
 --Desiree L Barron
PhD Candidate, NYU Anthropology

Rick is one of the straight-talkers at NYU. He is part of the solution here. He is upbeat, yet honestly addresses the challenges NYU faces as it is growing and becoming less diverse.
 Rick's vision has been to bridge academics and student life. I've deeply appreciated his knowledge, know how, and dogged commitment. He's had great success at Yale, Arizona State University, and working with the American Council on Education in D.C. And he brought that depth of experience and insight onto our campus. And Rick is not a bureaucrat. He's a doer and thinker immersed in the scholarship and policy around diversity, cultural differences, and higher education.
 Rick has been there for our students, staff, and faculty. And in my time at NYU has been the most visible and consistent administrator working on these issues.
-- Jack Tchen
A/P/A Studies
Department of Social and Cultural Analysis &
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study
New York University

Dear President Sexton,
[Richard Chavolla] has played a central role in the advancement of our department s own work on diversity in the Tisch community, and has been one of our most generous and active University colleagues. In a University where each school easily becomes wrapped up in its own concerns and the big picture of the University can be lost, Richard brought in an awareness of diversity work being done on a level that warmed the connection to other programs and communities across NYU. In addition to this, he has individually been such a committed, open, passionate and dedicated colleague, going above and beyond the call of duty to his central position by lending the Drama department his strong hand in the development of our own crucial diversity dialogues and training. At the time of his [departure] we were right in the middle of consultations with him about creating Intergroup dialogues for our department he is instrumental in that process and we are certain that this now represents an irreplaceable loss for us on many levels.
We came to know of Richard s work through our own staff of academic advisors who received a great deal of help and inspiration from him in developing their own communication skills with our students. We heard of such glowing reports of Richard s instrumental place in the work of the Multicultural Center and the cultural training that his programming offered. Like many other schools in the NYU environs, we have ongoing and changing issues of inclusion and diversity and are challenged in how best to train our staff to pedagogically welcome and advise our students. Richard transformed our methodology of dealing with the social, cultural and pedagogical hurdles that different students deal with.
As the Drama Department Diversity Committee, we invited Richard to come and give an extended presentation of his programming and ideas to one of our full faculty meetings. Richard spoke to 50+ members of the faculty for nearly an hour, addressing a whole host of questions. Our faculty was eager to engage him in a range of topics. It is from this presentation, in front of a large group of people, that his vision and articulation of the Center s goals helped frame the possible programming issues that the dept s diversity committee could pick up on. He brought a framework to us that we were previously unaware how to navigate for our own purposes on programs that would impact our student body of nearly 1400. This material can often create silence, reticence and even resistance when presented in an institutional format. Yet, we were more than inspired by Rick s visit, we were encouraged to look at our own work in the department and actively seek out our own transformations through his ideas.
We then invited him to attend committee meetings to help us formulate the necessary visions for Intergroup dialogues that were appropriate for the Tisch community, beginning with Drama students. He was so generous with his time, ideas and honest critiques that we left those meetings energized to tackle some very difficult and often complex structural changes in our planning....
One of the astonishing things that also crossed our minds when we met Rick was the wisdom of the Multicultural Center in hiring someone so excellent at communication: articulate, experienced and yet down to earth. As a Native American, Rick Chavolla also brought a perspective informed by the subtleties and so-called  invisible  issues of diversity relations that Universities are most challenged to articulate. We were illuminated by this. This is a voice that the faculty desperately needed. That our students desperately needed.... We recognized him as a passionate advocate for rights, a team player, a man dedicated to his work, and a visionary.

Sincerely,
The Drama Department Diversity Committee:
Chris Andersson, Manager of Admissions, Department of Drama
Byron Easley, Arts Professor, Department of Drama
Karmenlara Ely, Associate Teacher, Drama Department
Kent Gash, Director, NEW STUDIO ON BROADWAY: Music Theatre and Acting
Bernadette McHugh, Academic Advisor, Department of Drama
Rosemary Quinn, Associate Arts Professor and Associate Chair, Drama Department
Robert Vorlicky, Associate Professor of Drama

I write to express my abundant admiration and respect for Richard Chavolla, former Director of the Center for Multicultural Programs and Education.
 I have come to know Rick through my membership of the Native American and Indigenous Students Group this past year, my first year at NYU Law. Rick's dedication to not only supporting Native students, but also actively promoting their needs and interests, made a real impact on me from the first meeting I attended. Since then, Rick has been an active participant and informal mentor for our group, both in his professional capacity, and as a personal friend, a unique formula that's particularly useful in developing trust among underrepresented students.
 I congratulate you for having had Rick on your team of administrators.

Kind regards,
Helen Poitra-Chalmers
NYU School of Law JD Candidate '13

[Richard Chavolla] truly furthered the vision of the CMEP Program. He has pushed for and advocated for a more visible presence for CMEP as well as for all underrepresented students of the University.  
He has inspired all of us to become more socially conscience and to be aware of and fight against our own personal biases as well as the biases of the Higher education system and the NYU Community.  
Please thank Richard for his knowledge, his love of everything "different" and for his willingness to go out on the limb to effect change.

All the very best,
 Pamela M.J.
Special Events Coordinator
Office of the Dean, CAS
Silver Center for Arts and Science

As the former Director of the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs, Mr. Chavolla was professional, cooperative, and inspiring in his work with students, faculty, staff and alumni. In addition, he was the rock for New York University’s communities of color, and was a visionary for how diversity at New York University’s campus should improve.  
I have known Richard Chavolla since I started my studies at New York University Fall of 2008 and he has been the utmost supportive staff on this campus as it pertains to programming around social justice issues. As alum of New York University he was pivotal and the reason I continued my education at New York University.  Without him I would have left because of the immense lack of diversity, cohesiveness, and priority of students of color at New York University’s campus.

Regards,
Merete Fields
Master of Arts Alumna 2010
New York University
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

I write to show my support for Rick Chavolla, Director of Multicultural Education and Programs at NYU. I am a second year law student at NYU and a Root Tilden Kern public interest scholar. Earlier this year I had the privilege of meeting Rick at a day long, student-led event, the Latino Unity Conference, held at Kimmel Hall. Although the event was held on a Saturday, Rick spent the whole day with students, participating in the conference’s events and helping the undergraduate leaders facilitate the panel discussions. When some of the professional invitees, including long-time community activists, began to take up too much of the spotlight at the conference, Rick gently steered the conversation back to focus on students. Rick was the only administrator or faculty of NYU present at the conference, which was intended to build support among students of color at NYU. Though the event was primarily made up of undergraduates, I attended the event because there were no similar events happening at the law school. Rick made me feel welcome and at home in Kimmel hall.
Rick’s warmth and good natured abilities with students make him a trusted confidant.

Best,
Sara Cullinane
N.Y.U. School of Law
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2012
 

Dear Marc Wais,
 Thank you for the President's Service Award. I would like to dedicate my award to Richard Chavolla. Without Richard I would not have had the support to branch out and serve the wider NYU community.  
When I first arrived at NYU, as an international student, I felt alienated by the sheer whiteness of my classmates and professors, the ethnocentrism in my classes, and the points of view about race, ethnicity, and politics expressed by people with privilege backgrounds. I nearly left. My department launched an emergency outreach initiative, and I met Rick. Not only were his programming and initiatives excellent, not only were his ideas about diversity more nuanced and intelligent than any others I had encountered outside of tenured professors of critical race theory, and not only did he advocate for Native and Indigenous students when we needed it most—that is, against more powerful administrators who were looking to manipulate and coerce us— he was also a trusted friend and mentor. He took service to a new level.

Sincerely,
Max Liboiron
PhD Candidate, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication

Law students rarely venture beyond Vanderbilt and Furman Halls.  Even more rare is for a law student to enter Kimmel Center.  Yet, those of us law students who have sought to connect with the broader NYU community have met CMEP Director Richard Chavolla.  Those of us who seek to build fellowship at our various schools within NYU appreciate Rick.  Those of us who tonight celebrate the commitment of members of the NYU community to a more healthy, humane, and empowering education salute our colleague and friend...Rick Chavolla.

We wish there were more Ricks in each of our schools.  From us current law students and for those who have been touched by your advocacy for justice and your dedication to student development:  Thank you for leading by example.

-- from The Coalition on Legal Representation (CoLR)
for thire annual Family of CoLR Dinner, where for the first time they recognized a member of the NYU community outside of the law school, Richard Chavolla, for his dedication and service to strengthening inter-university ties.

I am a PhD (ABD) student in the Performance Studies program here at NYU. As a first generation high school graduate and college student and a Native person from a small southwestern community, I accepted that attending New York University would also entail a certain amount of loss of community, alienation and loneliness. 
That said, when I first met Richard Chavolla all of this changed. While I have only known Richard a short amount of time, he managed to extend warmth, time, and an extraordinary effort to make me feel welcome in his home, connected, and supported at New York University. All I can ask for is that New York University, as an honorable institution will do everything to support Richard during his new job search.

Thank you,
Tina Majkowski
PhD Candidate, NYU Performance Studies

I have come to know Rick Chavolla as a dedicated community leader. He has an exceptional understanding of issues pertaining to social justice. I am honored to have worked with him before his termination from NYU. He always welcomed my points of view and interests as an activist, which led to many conversations and shared ideas about collaboration opportunities. He gladly supported my passion for immigration rights, urban planning and was one who pointed to moments of opportunity. In fact, I have found a deeper respect for Rick because he recognizes the importance of building community. He was an important part of many student lives and an asset to the campus community in general. While at the university, Rick was keen in making an impact on students, faculty, staff and obtaining their support and respect. It is a shame that NYU has lost such a remarkable staff member. His dedication and hard work are admirable.

Lorena Guadiana
Board Member, Alliance of Latino and Latin American Students
Master of Urban Planning Candidate
NYU Wagner

I would like to use this opportunity to express my appreciation and   support for Rick Chavolla and his future endeavors.  He was such a  valuable asset to the NYU multicultural center.  Immediately upon our  first encounter, I could tell he was going to be a great addition to NYU for not only minority students in general but specifically for  Native students.   Rick is aware of the difficulties and challenges  minority students face upon entering a new, and at times overwhelming,  environment such as NYU but he was very approachable.  He made an  effort to be involved with all student events and I could tell he was  genuinely interested in our success.  That is hard to come by in  mentors, especially at large universities.   I would like to thank  Rick for those efforts and let him know they certainly did not go  unnoticed by me.

Sincerely,
Tamara James
PhD Candidate, Basic Biomedical Sciences, NYU Langone Medical Center