When Mac Stewart took over as the interim vice provost of the Office of Minority Affairs in August 2000, he did not envision a long-term future in the position.

“When I started out, it was just according to the time frame that they had given me,” said Stewart, who has been at Ohio State since 1970. “I came here ready to stay a month, and then they extended my term until the end of the year. I assumed that I would be here no longer than that particular year.”

Stewart was officially named as the permanent vice provost of Minority Affairs on March 2, following a national search for the successor to Timothy Knowles, who was asked to resign in July 2000.

OSU Provost Ed Ray said Stewart has made great strides and hopes that he can provide long-term stability to the position, which was held by five different people over an eight-year span.

“Whether or not the hope for stability has been achieved, has to be demonstrated over time, but I do believe that Mac has gotten off to a solid start,” Ray said.

Stewart, who previously served as the dean of University College, has been busy over the past year since he took over the position of vice provost of the Office of Minority Affairs. He referred to the past year as a “year of diversity and celebration” for the Office of Minority Affairs, which just recently had its 30th anniversary.

Stewart was able to lure a variety of speakers to OSU, including the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Bernice King, who spoke at the Ohio Union in February. He also helped bring the president of the National Association of for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, to speak at the 7th Annual Big Ten Conference on diversity in April. Stewart plans to expand the conference for next spring’s event.

“We focused mainly on the state of Ohio, and then we expanded to the Big Ten universities. Now, we are ready to move beyond that to a national focus,” Stewart said. “It has the substance of a national conference.”

Stewart also established a new Faculty Advisory Council for the Office of Minority Affairs, which is made up of faculty members who represent all of the constituencies of Minority Affairs. He has set up a similar Student Advisory Council as well, which meets every other month to discuss various issues that affect the Office of Minority Affairs.

“In the Office of Minority Affairs, we have an obligation to keep many constituencies in mind,” Stewart said.

Stewart has set up programs to help minorities who are incoming freshmen as well as high school students in order to help them prepare for the transition to college.

One such program is the Bridge Program, which allows selected minority students who are incoming freshmen to move in the dorms three weeks early to improve the effectiveness of their adjustment to college. Stewart was surprised with the amount of interest in the program, which 76 students participated in.

“We could easily have had 125 students, but we didn’t plan for more than 75 students,” Stewart said. “We are hoping to expand it in the future.”

Stewart expanded the Young Scholars Program, which focuses on helping youths from the nine largest urban school districts in Ohio get ready for college.

One of the major accomplishments for Stewart has been the reorganization of his staff and his handling of the Office of Minority Affairs budget.

“Mac and his staff have made impressive gains in more appropriately managing costs and rationalizing the budget within the Office of Minority Affairs,” Ray said.

In the near future, Stewart has a variety of goals such as establishing a program to encourage minorities in the military to attend college, increasing cooperation with the local minority community and the opening of the Multicultural Center.

Stewart is very optimistic about his long-term future with the Office of Minority Affairs.

“As we look long-term, our agenda will have to be set in cooperation with the Advisory Councils, based on the diversity plans, achievements and experience of the past year and the coming months,” Stewart said. “It is an exciting time for the position as well as the Office of the Minority Affairs, because of the university’s focus at the present time on diversity.”