Office for Equity & Inclusion
The mission of the Office for Equity & Inclusion (OEI) is to coordinate the university's commitment to a diverse, welcoming and respectful community, and to ensure legal compliance.
The OEI operates under the following procedures: Niagara University Non-Discrimination Policy and Grievance Procedures
Office for Equity & Inclusion
Ryan Thompson, Esq.
Title IX Coordinator & Civil Rights Officer
- Email:
- rthompson@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- 716.286.8324
- Office Location:
- O'Shea Hall B27, PO Box 2034, Niagara University, NY 14109
Ryan Thompson began his career in investigations while in college working for the U.S. Marshal’s Service warrant squad. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1999 with a degree in journalism, Thompson became the crime reporter for the Cambridge Chronicle newspaper outside of Boston, MA. There, Thompson became heavily engaged in investigating and exposing the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in the aftermath of a local boy’s abduction and murder. Thompson also received an award for his coverage of racial and ethnic issues from the New England Press Association.
In law school, Thompson continued to focus on criminal investigations, operating on both sides of the law at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and at Brooklyn Law School’s innocence project. Working as a litigator at a 5th Avenue law firm in Manhattan, Thompson returned to journalism in 2007. He became the longtime legal editor of the historic Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper, covering countless amounts of murders, rapes, robberies, mafia and terrorism trials.
Thompson began his career at Niagara University as an adjunct writing professor, before becoming the assistant general counsel in 2014. Over the next three years, Thompson continued to teach over a dozen writing courses, while also co-founding the Niagara Law Center. In 2017, Thompson was named Title IX Coordinator and chosen to lead the university’s new Office for Equity & Inclusion (OEI).
He is certified as a Civil Rights Investigator from the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), and has received lengthy training on trauma-informed investigations from the New York State Police, SUNY and Harvard psychologist Dr. Jim Hopper.
Deputy IX Coordinators
Dr. Henrik C. Borgstrom, Ph.D.
Associate Provost
- Email:
- hcb@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- 716.286.8214
- Office Location:
- Alumni Hall, First Floor, Room 8B
Averl Harbin
Director of Multicultural Affairs
- Email:
- aharbin@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- 716.286.8406
- Office Location:
- Gallagher Center, Lower Level, Room 113
Susan M. Roarke
Assistant Athletic Director, Compliance Services
- Email:
- sroarke@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- 716.286.8781
- Office Location:
- Gallagher Center, Upper Level, Room 201A
Title IX and Civil Rights Investigators
Tanyetta Carter, Ed.M., LMSW
Social Work Faculty Fellow & Field Practicum Coordinator
John P. Sauter, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Derick J. Thornton
Assistant Athletic Director of Communications and Special Events