Donald "DJ" Mitchell Jr. is vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, New York.

 

Dr. Mitchell's scholarship and presentations focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education contexts. More specifically, he engages in critical conversations on race, gender, identity intersections, and intersectionality within higher education settings, with a particular interest in historically Black fraternities and sororities and historically Black colleges and universities.  

 

His scholarship has been recognized locally and nationally.  He is recipient of the Blank Slate Media 40 Under 40 Honor; Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 2020 Emerging Scholar Honor; the Association for Fraternity/Sorority Advisors and Sigma Phi Epsilon's 2018 Dr. Charles Eberly Oracle Award (with Dr. John Gipson, Jakia Marie, and Tiffany Steele); the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference's 2016 McGraw Hill Distinguished Scholar Award; the American College Personnel Association's 2015 Emerging Scholar Award; Grand Valley State University's 2015 Distinguished Early-career Scholar Award; the Multicultural/Multiethnic Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association's 2014 Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship; the American College Personnel Association’s Standing Committee for Men and Masculinities 2014 Outstanding Research Award (with Dr. Darris R. Means); and the Michigan College Personnel Association's 2013 John Zaugra Outstanding Research/Publication Award. He was also awarded the Center for the Study of the College Fraternity's 2012 Richard McKaig Outstanding Doctoral Research Award for his dissertation, "Are They Truly Divine?: A Grounded Theory of the Influences of Black Greek-Lettered Organizations on the Persistence of African Americans at Predominantly White Institutions."  

 

A native of Portsmouth, Virginia, Dr. Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Shaw University, the first historically Black institution in the South, a Master of Science in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a PhD in educational policy and administration with a concentration in higher education from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. He also holds a diversity and inclusion certificate from Cornell University and the Certified Diversity Executive credential from the Institute for Diversity Certification.

 

Dr. Mitchell is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and a member of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York.