In the last couple years, racial division and equality have been highlighted in this country to a much higher degree after the death of George Floyd. Although his death was unfortunate and sad, there was a lot of good that came from his death. So many organizations for racial equality have been started around the country and thanks to this campus president Emily Cutrer we now also have a group of people dedicated to help educate and bring awareness to racial and prejudice issues. The group is still fairly new and still in the initial stages, but members Toney Favors and Corey Robinson feel like the committee is in good hands and in position to blossom in the near future.

Toney Favors is one of the committee members who over recruiting and has been deeply involved with starting the committee. It all started with President Cutrer having town meeting at city hall where she met with city officials. “From there we wanted candid Conversation, and so candid conversation took place” Favors went on to say, “From that it was suggested that we needed a committee to address some of the concerns not only nationally but locally with our students.” It is not unusual to come across people who are passionate and sincerely want to participate in serious attempts to enhance diversity and equity. However, it is rare for these attempts to result in long-term institutional change that extends beyond the short term wins and temporary successes. To be able to effect meaningful change at least on our campus, the DEI committee needed to locate allies in essential departments with decision-making authority who can give the necessary support to bring about true change across the university. The committee was able to achieve this. There are lots of committee members from many different departments around the campus. These people have been meeting at least once a month to talk about the next steps of the committee.

One of the departments on campus that was reached out to for help was the counselor department where Corey Robinson was happy to oblige in assisting the committee in its mission. “We are in support of all of this… This is a Unified effort and whatever bad things been going on will not be tolerated” He expects the club to be the face of the school that lives up to diversity, equity, and Inclusion. “And not just stating it on paper but putting things into action so students will feel that this is a safe and comfortable environment that everyone can feel a part of.” The DEI committee is expected to be the head on many projects in the near future and the immediate plan for the committee is to establish an official office and bring in somebody who can spearhead the entire mission of the club. The club has held a couple events so far by partnering up with student life and even held an event to combat hate speech that was put on display in the University center early last month.

The DEIC’s mission is to provide leadership, formulate action plans, and oversee important operations. Furthermore, the committee should be proactive wherever possible and in doing so providing solutions before problems even emerge. It is expected that several of the projects in the initial plans, if successful, will demand a lot of time and commitments from both the Department and the Institute in order to assure their long-term viability. Efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are still ongoing. The process is never-ending, take time to develop, and will rely on key factors to be successful.