Sara Xayarath Hernandez

Liaison Community Engagement Coordinator, Equity in Graduate Education Consortium

Associate Dean for Inclusion & Student Engagement

Cornell University – Graduate School

Sara is part of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education’s core leadership team, providing vision and strategic management for Graduate School initiatives and policies related to diversity, inclusion, access, and equity. She is also the PI for an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded grant focused on improving admissions and mentoring practices for graduate students within the Sloan University Centers for Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) and Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership communities. She is a co-PI for Cornell’s Sloan UCEM and NSF AGEP Programs.

Hernández is a first-generation college student holding a B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and an M.R.P. from Cornell University. She has dedicated her career to making academia a place where members of all communities, but especially those from backgrounds historically excluded from and underrepresented in the academy, can establish a sense of belonging, feel affirmed, see themselves represented in multiple dimensions, and where they can thrive, not just survive. Navigating life in partnership with her husband and keeping up with their young daughter bring her great joy and keep her grounded.