Campus leaders address DEIJ topics at open forum

In an effort to give students an opportunity to express concerns and ask questions to administration the JDI hosted a panel on Monday evening titled “Speak Up, Speak Out.” President Brian Bruess, Provost Richard Ice, and Associate Provost Mary Geller sat on the panel to address comments and questions on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice efforts and the actions taken to improve the student experience.

“Every student deserves the opportunity to learn, develop and grow into the fullest and best version of themselves as scholars and human beings,” Geller said.

Student comments varied in topic, from questions about how to make campus multicultural to concerns over how the institution had handled incidents of racism and homophobia. The panel stressed the importance of the new bias incident reporting form, and Bruess stated that the hiring of Sandra Mitchell as senior diversity officer would help them think strategically about recruiting and retaining diverse students.

“How do we work to create an environment, a climate, that’s truly responsive to the needs of our students because they are diverse? How do we approach these questions at an institutional level to create institutional support for the amazing work that’s happening on the ground?” Bruess said.

A large part of the event was dominated by the discussion of accessibility for first-generation students in regards to the financial difficulties students face as well as making the process easier to understand for new families. Bruess acknowledged that the institution could do better with language translation in programs, print and web material, saying that the families of students were part of the community as well. In regards to financial concerns, he stated that the school could provide more resources and work with students around questions of affordability. Additionally, there could be more work around student employment and financial literacy. Ice talked about his own experiences as a first-generation student.

“I know what that’s like, to not know how to navigate the structure, and something we need to look at is, how do we have some advocates on campus?… Who would be able to help students to do the navigation of things that they and their families are not accustomed to?” Ice said.

Ice’s answer struck a chord with CSB senior Lizeth Pineda.

“I was kind of caught off guard when Richard said something like, ‘I know what it’s like to be a first-gen student too,’ but for me, there’s intersectionality in that,” Pineda said. “I’m not only first-gen, but I am also Mexican American, and I’m also a woman that faces various oppressions if not only for my race and ethnicity but also for being a woman.”

When a student brought up the issue of institutional marketing materials heavily featuring BIPOC students, the panel acknowledged that they were aware of the issue. Geller said that the institution had worked with a firm to look at school marketing material to try and provide a more accurate representation of the institution. In response to a question about the training professors were receiving, Ice stated that DEIJ training was no longer optional and that professors were expected to complete programming, workshops or online courses each year, and that it would be taken into account for reviews, promotion and tenure.

“Overall I felt that they understood what I was saying, and I hope they do something about it. But am I really confident? I’m not really confident about it,” said SJU first-year Marcus Hayes, who asked the panel about what the institution could do to reach out to Black students.

CSB sophomore Rachel Erben enjoyed hearing from administration but voiced concern about the actual change that will be implemented in the next few years.

“All those people up on stage will still be here for the next 10, 15 years, and everyone voicing concerns will be gone in the next three,” Erben said. “I do think that they gave well-measured answers that showed commitment and showed intention to change, but it’s just hard to reckon with the fact that the students might not see that change in their time here.”