Keesha Mitchell named interim associate vice president for Office of Institutional Equity

Maeve Walsh
Tue, 10 Nov 2020 20:36:54 +0000
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Keesha Mitchell has been named interim associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity at Ohio State. | Credit: Lantern file photo

Keesha Mitchell will be the interim associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity, Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce McPheron announced in a press release Thursday.

Mitchell, an alumna of the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State, will assume the role Nov. 23, where she will be responsible for overseeing university responses to all forms of harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct, according to OIE’s website.?

Mitchell’s appointment to the position follows the Oct. 20 resignation of OIE’s former Associate Vice President Katherine Lasher, who served in the role since August 2019. The university did not provide an explanation for Lasher’s abrupt resignation. Lasher’s Ohio State salary as of June was $265,000.

Housed under OIE are several university offices, including Americans with Disabilities Act, Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity, Protection of Minors and Title IX.

Mitchell served as the Chief of the Health Care Fraud Section under the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for 21 years, where she supervised a unit of 120 people responsible for investigating and prosecuting fraud, abuse and neglect cases, according to the press release.

“Keesha has been repeatedly honored for her teamwork and leadership in the attorney general’s office,” McPheron said. “She has also been successful in forging critical partnerships with other law enforcement agencies in Ohio and across the United States.”

Prior to joining the attorney general’s office, Mitchell worked for the Franklin County Public Defender’s Office for 10 years, McPheron said. There, she served as a guardian ad litem for juveniles where she assisted abused and neglected children.

“Keesha is enthusiastic about joining the OIE team,” McPheron said. “We anticipate that she will serve for 6-8 months in this interim role as we conduct a national search for the permanent leader of the Office of Institutional Equity.”