The University of California, Santa Cruz brought on a new Interim Assistant Dean of Diversity Equity and Inclusion for the Arts Division. John Jota Leaños, a professor of Film and Digital Media (FDM) and Guggenheim Fellow, is a Mexican/Italian-American and Chumash-award winning interdisciplinary artist, documentarian, animator, and social art practitioner whose work engages the intersections of history, memory, and power through a social justice lens.
“A Dean of DEI is essential because higher education has historically been a site where systemic inequities are both reproduced and, potentially, dismantled,” says Leaños. “This position reflects an institutional commitment to addressing those inequities directly and intentionally.”
As an internationally recognized filmmaker, Leaños’ work has been featured at events including the Sundance Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Lincoln Center, and the Morelia International Film Festival. His groundbreaking animation work has won awards internationally, and his art installations have appeared in some of the best museums in the United States including the Whitney, the SFMOMA, and the MOCA Chicago.
Leaños’ expertise in his craft intrinsically ties to his identity and ability to showcase diversity and its importance. He plans to use his artistic prowess to “embed equity into the core fabric of the Arts Division’s practices.”
For the past 15 years, Leaños worked to advance the goals of diversity and inclusion in the Arts Division. In the past three years he worked as a Faculty Equity Advocate (FEA), aiding in restructuring hiring and retention practices on campus to help foster a community of inclusion for staff and faculty. “This moment calls for leaders who understand that history is present and who are prepared to work toward transformative, reparative change,” he says.
The UC Santa Cruz student body is composed predominantly of people of color and has a plurality of female identifying students. Seeing that diversity reflected back in faculty and staff helps create a trusting and safe environment for students to grow. In a time of growing national tension around DEI, Leaños’ new role will emphasize excellence as a facet of diversity by highlighting artistic practice as a vehicle for social and political change.
“The arts have always been a space where marginalized perspectives can disrupt dominant narratives, inspire new ways of thinking, and imagine inclusive futures,” says Leaños. “I am most excited about the opportunity to amplify the Arts as a vehicle for transformative change.”
As for his role as an educator, Leaños views his new position as an enhancement that compliments the work he has already done. His research work and classes already aim to cultivate critical thinking and break down power structures meant to keep historically excluded groups oppressed.
“This role allows me to engage directly with structural inequities while fostering creative solutions through research, teaching, and community engagement,” says Leaños. “I look forward to building coalitions across departments, implementing DEI initiatives that center equity rather than tokenism, and using creative practice as a tool for reparative justice. The Arts Division is uniquely positioned to lead the university in becoming a model of diversity, equity, and inclusion—this potential energizes me.”