Greetings from the Rainbow Center,

I’m excited to announce that the Rainbow Center has officially hired Chris Richard (they/them/their) as the new Rainbow Center Coordinator!  Their start date is Friday, December 3, 2021!  Take a look at our staff page that has been updated with Chris’ photo and information!

The Rainbow Center would like to extend a special thank you to all the members of the search committee, and to Angela Rola for serving as the chair.

Chris is a Black non-binary educator, writer, advocate, and coach with a passion for holistic wellness. They began their career in higher education, serving for 10 years focusing on counseling and student development, with an emphasis on supporting first-generation students of color as they enter and navigate the academy. Chris served as a Residence Director at Westfield State University and Central Connecticut State University, assisting students towards building equitable and just campus communities that prioritized social justice and individual development. 

Chris was formerly the Talent and Training Manager at Re-Center, whose mission is to activate youth and adults to drive transformative change towards racially just schools and communities in Connecticut. Chris received their masters in counselor education and a bachelors in English from Central Connecticut State University.

They were inspired to join the University of Connecticut’s Rainbow Center team due to a passion for creating and supporting academic systems that function as not only inclusive environments, but spaces that can meet the needs and honor the lived experience of all students. Chris takes the words of James Baldwin to heart, believing that “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced”, and uses these words as motivation for the critical social-justice work that remains to be done within communities.

Sincerely,

Kelsey O’Neil
Director