• The Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity (DIBE) Commission drafted a position description and title, Vice President for Equity, Accountability and Inclusive Excellence, to add to the senior staff to be in place by July 2024. 
• The commission conducted a scan of nationwide DIBE positions, titles and programs as this rationale details.
• In the course of deliberations, the Commission also developed an institutional inclusivity statement. This statement may be useful as the Strategic Planning Committee considers revisions to our current diversity statement approved in 2010. A second version of the statement, included here, has been officially adopted for use by Human Resources and is currently included in all position descriptions.
• Comission members included trustee and alumna, Dr. Elizabeth Medina, Drs. Alicia Moore, Maha Zewail-Foote, Brit Katz, and Ron Swain, and James Gaeta, and Rachel Thompson ’23.

• Southwestern University’s core values include fostering diverse perspectives, respecting the worth and dignity of persons and promoting activism in the pursuit of justice. Southwestern requires all students to complete one course that provides them an opportunity to understand how difference is used in the maintenance of structures of power (e.g. institutions, discourses, etc.) and inequality, as well as the activism in which people engage to promote social justice.
• Students taking an FYS or AES class will be required to attend the module “The Return of the JEDI–Learning how to build inclusive environments” during Welcome Week. The module discusses how Southwestern is home to people of countless cultures and identities. Join the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Center for fun games and critical conversations about building a safe and welcoming campus.
  

• The Counseling and Health Center currently hosts weekly support groups, facilitated by psychotherapists and health educators, for Students of Color and students who identify as Trans or Gender Non-Conforming.

• The Health Education Team collaborates with the Race and Ethnicity Studies program to facilitate student, staff and faculty panels of racial disparities on campus.

• The Center for Integrative Learning developed Diversity Study Abroad 101 session in collaboration with the JEDI Center
• The Center for Integrative Learning Developed “Study Abroad is for everyone” campaign (myth busters)
• Dream Week is the honor of the life and achievements of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Southwestern University celebrates annually with educational and cultural events sponsored by the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI), the Race and Ethnicity Studies Program, and the Division of Student Life.

• The Development team is working with the JEDI Center to promote and encourage gifts to the Center during Giving Day 2023 (April 19 & 20). Associate Director of Annual Giving Jaheer Jones is working directly with the Director of Student Inclusion and Diversity Malissa Ismaila to take advantage of this opportunity.
• Members of the major gift team have invited major gifts to support the initiatives of the JEDI Center. The plan is to leverage at least one of these major gifts as a matching gift on Giving Day 2023. 

For Students

• Completed FY 22-23. JEDI Center hosts monthly DIBE training for students.
• In summer 2023, all incoming students were asked to complete online education prior to Sprog, called “Personal Skills for a Diverse Campus.” Although it was not required, 84% of incoming students completed the course. Beginning in summer 2024, it will be required.
• Student-athletes receive diversity training from their SAAC groups. 

For Faculty & Staff

• JEDI Center professional staff offers volunteer DIBE training for new-employees (February 24, March 30, and April 28). 
• Dr. Leslie Zorwick provided the keynote at Fall Faculty Conference on Understanding and Addressing Bias in Evaluation.
• Dr. Leslie Gonzales spoke to an all-area meeting about Building Inclusive Work Spaces.
• Dr. Alicia Moore has been conducting department climate training with departments that have entering faculty of color as part of the race, ethnicity, and social justice thematic hire initiative.
• Student Life employees (including University Police), resident assistants, orientation leaders, and student employees (including Resident Assistants, Orientation Leaders, and MOSAIC Ambassadors) receive training in bias response.
• Interim Associate Vice President for Human Resources Katherine Whidden has created a committee to review faulty and staff training efforts.
• Title IX Coordinator Katie Rallojay is reviewing the content for the annual online training related to diversity and inclusion.
• Athletic coaches and administrators receive annual diversity training from their conventions, conferences, regional rules gatherings. 

• Title IX Coordinator Katie Rallojay is reviewing the content for staff and faculty onboarding related to diversity and inclusion.

• Complete. A Southwestern alumna was hired to serve as a full-time counselor starting August 2023.

• Complete. The Pirate’s Credo was completed Fall 2023. You can find it on Southwestern’s University Profile. 

• Complete. The Dean of Students completed an update of the Student Code of Conduct. 

• New students were asked to complete an online DIBE course prior to Sprog. 84% compliance was achieved. 
• Welcome week will include panels specifically aiding in the conversation of diversity and inclusion - with emphasis on antiracism and social justice. It will also include a student panel on how to treat faculty with respect and how to flourish and value the opportunity to live in a culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse community.
• Welcome week will also include an involvement fair with sign-ups for clubs, intramurals, off-campus outdoor recreational trips, information about all sororities and fraternities, the JEDI Center, and the Student Government Association.
• The Center for Integrative Learning collaborated with the Center for Career & Professional Development to recruit students to participate in the Houston Methodist DEI Summer Scholarship Program.

• Thematic Hires in Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice focused in LatinX and Black Studies—seven new faculty entered in 2023-24 and six new faculty entered in 2023–24.

• The first “President’s Corner” was completed on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Bishops Lounge to address DIBE issues and campus response. (Conversation Notes, Feb. 23, 2023)
• The second “President’s Corner was completed on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Bishops Lounge.
• The third “President’s Corner” is September 27, 2023. 

• The Counseling and Health Education Team facilitated a “Healing Spaces” workshop for BIPOC students to help address the racial trauma, experienced first-hand or vicariously, and processing racial trauma with tangible action steps (breath work, tension release, and movement therapy).

• In progress for the 2023–24 recruitment season. 

• The new diversity website showcases our unwavering commitment to diversity, features initiatives, resources, and inspiring stories, and equipping our community for inclusivity.

• Broadened the DIBE’s taskforce reach to address the holistic needs of faculty, staff, and students.

• Job descriptions have been revised, and job advertisements have been strategically placed to increase diversity across leadership positions and in faculty/staff hires.
•  Academic Affairs c

  reated a new search process where c

  comprehensive data collection at all stages of the process, and there are workshops and support for faculty involved. They also developed essential documents, including a search process document, DEI checklist, and exit document.

• FOC (Faculty of Color) connect at the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) and at SU—mentoring program for faculty of color (led by Associate Professor of Education Alicia Moore and Professor of Chemistry Maha Zewail-Foote) funded by ACS Mellon grant.

• Hired Southwestern’s first full-time Title IX coordinator, Katie Rallojay, in May 2022 who provides ongoing training and educational opportunities for faculty and staff related to sex discrimination.

• For staff hires, HR now provides diversity training for staff search committees.

• For faculty hires, diversity training is required for all search committee members. This has been successfully implemented for all 11 ongoing search committees. 

•  A new position was created, a Hispanic Student Success Coordinator, to be hired as part of Academic Success approved for 2023-2024.
• An inclusive pedagogy specialist to be added to the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship in 2024-2025.

• Dr. Alicia Moore is leading individualized workshops with departments that go beyond the basics of Diversity 101. They are tailored to each department’s unique needs and explore advanced diversity strategies and collaborative problem-solving.

• New position was created, coordinator of student inclusion and diversity. Brianna Pierce was hired in January 2023. 

• ACS Mellon Fellow in the Humanities—Professor of Spanish Laura Senio Blair will begin a two-year appointment as Assistant Dean of Faculty Development and Strategic Initiatives with a focus on implementing HSI programming approved for 2023–24.

• Five students attended the Hispanic Association of Colleges and University’s 36th Annual Conference: Adelante Leadership Institute on October 8-10, 2022.
• Six students will also be attending the Hispanic Association of Colleges and University in October 2023, to demonstrate the continuous efforts to help build relationships, provide professional development, and encourage networking among the students.
• Joined Excelencia in Education’s Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) program.
• Through a grant from the Davis Family Foundation, translation receivers were purchased for campus events, providing a resource for Spanish-speaking attendees.

   

• Joined:
  • Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance
  • Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities
  • President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
  • Excelencia in Education
  • Universities Studying Slavery Consortium