Barbara Diggs Lyles House and Multicultural Center
In the Fall of 2021, the Student Life team and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion proposed to rename the Arts & Humanities House on 4th Street in honor of Dr. Barbara Diggs Lyles ’51, the first African-American woman to graduate from Marietta College. Dr. Lyles willingly told her story of perseverance in overcoming obstacles during her time at Marietta, in addition to her ultimate success as a highly respected professional dedicated to teaching and education. In addition to acknowledging Dr. Lyles’ legacy by renaming this residence hall in her honor, the common areas of the building are now home to our Multicultural Center. Exterior signage for the building and upgrades to the common areas are needed to meet the goal of inspiring a sense of place, ownership, and belonging for our students, with the purpose of bringing all groups on campus together. In addition, we are currently developing a themed housing community in this building that will focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This housing initiative requires additional funding to replace bedroom furniture and also install air conditioning in order to make the residential areas of the building attractive to students. The totality of the proposed updates to the Barbara Diggs Lyles House will enable the College to highlight a distinguished female member of The Long Blue Line and also to market this building as a concrete manifestation of our commitment to students’ development and success through active engagement with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Women in Leadership
The Women in Leadership initiative at Marietta College established a mission which seeks to nurture, encourage, and most importantly, celebrate women and other underrepresented populations on campus. Women in Leadership was established in 2022 and welcomes all members of the campus community regardless of gender identity. The group’s goal is to provide opportunities to mentor, support and network, and to provide a space to share ideas and celebrate accomplishments. In the spirit of celebrating accomplishments, we are celebrating the legacy of Dr. Barbara Diggs Lyles ’51. Our fundraising project will allow for the Arts & Humanities House to be named in recognition of Dr. Lyles, and to become a hub for engagement on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The space will be both residential for current students, and multipurpose, and will be a space that is used with a focus on being student-ready, inclusive, and uniting. The house will be the home to global connections themed housing, programming that celebrates diversity, and satellite student support services. We often talk about how members of our Long Blue Line make a difference in our world, and that begins with supporting our students. Thank you for helping us make an impact on their experience through the legacy of Dr. Barbara Diggs Lyles.