This unique positioning made us view our work with renewed purpose, greater creativity, and a sense of urgency. The experience also underscored what we have always known—that diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to the realization of the institutional mission on each one of our campuses.

Make DEI everybody’s responsibility.

Approach DEI work as mission critical.

The spring 2020 transition to remote learning and work models exposed inequities among our students, faculty, and employees and illuminated the importance of addressing the different needs across these populations. Tackling these inequities required real-time strategies and solutions that would endure over time.

However, the recent triple crisis—the COVID-19 pandemic, the systemic racism in this country, and racial inequities in higher education—has prompted a clarion call for more effective strategies that will result in more equitable outcomes for underrepresented populations by placing DEI at the core of our institutional practice.

The social unrest that followed the tragedy of George Floyd’s murder last May underscored the inequities that persist in American society. While these inequities are complex and cut across several domains, educational inequities are significant and demand a response from campus leaders.

Inclusion, often referenced in relationship to diversity, is vital for all members of a campus community, but is particularly important to historically underrepresented and marginalized populations. AAC&U describes inclusion as the intentional, ongoing, active institutional efforts to reap the educational benefits of diversity. On a campus, inclusion means having a valued voice, seeing others like you represented around you and in the curriculum, and knowing that you belong and matter based on how you experience the environment and your interactions with others.