Syracuse University has appointed diversity officers in four of its schools and colleges since the summer, all of whom are being led by interim chief diversity officer and School of Social Work chair Keith Alford. Alford and the four appointees said they will use a bottom-up approach to assess the concerns of students, faculty and staff regarding issues of diversity and inclusion.

The diversity officers said they are trying to create open dialogues about diversity on campus. For Alford, this means holding a lunch series where he will sit with four to seven students from different cultural backgrounds and discuss how their schools and colleges can improve issues affecting students from underrepresented groups.

“I’m hearing from people who literally are walking on campus, taking classes, working on projects,” Alford said. “I want to be able to use quotes from these students and highlight their experiences.”

Alford has also been holding meetings with the diversity leaders, where they can discuss initiatives they want to bring to their colleges.

The diversity officers were appointed after the spring 2018 Theta Tau videos controversy. Protests erupted on campus in April after videos surfaced showing people in the Theta Tau engineering fraternity house engaging in behavior Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” The fraternity at the time called the videos a “satirical sketch.”

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Chancellor Kent Syverud appointed Alford as interim CDO in June, and Alford will continue his role until a permanent appointment is made. A workgroup formed by Syverud recommended in 2016 that the position be created.  

One concern Alford said he has heard from students is the retention rate for faculty of color. While he does not play an active role in hiring faculty, Alford said he would lend his skills if asked.

Kishi Ducre, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Arts and Sciences, said she will offer to help the university find more diverse job applicants. One way to increase faculty and staff diversity is to advertise available jobs in inclusive language, she said. Ducre was appointed in September, but she has taught in the African American Studies department at SU for 13 years.

Ducre has started three-hour inclusive teaching workshops for Arts and Sciences faculty. Almost 200 faculty members have completed the training, which will continue throughout the spring 2019 semester, she said.  

The large size of Arts and Sciences’ student and faculty body can make it difficult to increase diversity, but also provides opportunities for SU as a whole, Ducre added.

“Because we are so large, we touch every student that gets a degree from SU. It’s important that we begin to do and get it right,” Ducre said. “But again, if we can do it here, then we can ensure that Syracuse University itself is an inclusive campus.

James Rolling Jr., director of diversity, equity and inclusion in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said he faces unique challenges in VPA. Many faculty and students are based in different buildings on campus, so it’s difficult to determine which issues to address first, he said.

Rolling Jr. is trying to gather feedback from students by creating a survey portal where students, faculty and staff can send anonymous feedback regarding any diversity initiatives or concerns.

It’s important to increase funding for people of color through grants and also to see a high retention rate among these students, Rolling Jr. said. He was a first-generation college student and couldn’t have attended without scholarship money.

His plans involve investing in long-term “systemic” change by applying for external grants instead of focusing on guest speakers, he said.

Rolling Jr. also plans to create a diversity council similar to the one that College of Engineering and Computer Science diversity dean Karen Davis has formed. He will handpick the faculty and staff on the council, which will meet for the first time in the spring 2019 semester. The council will be a line of communication for students and faculty to discuss concerns, Rolling Jr. added.

Davis has already appointed student liaisons from multiple student organizations, such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers, to be part of her inclusion council. Davis said more diversity initiatives will be introduced once the school’s diversity audit is completed in January.

Dawit Negussey, SU’s faculty fellow for diversity and inclusion in the Graduate School, said he plans to continue the efforts he has already implemented prior to stepping into the new position. That involves recruiting graduate students through the GEM GRAD Lab program. The program offers underrepresented students exposure to the benefits of research and technology careers and encourages young people of color to consider graduate education in STEM fields, according to its website.

This year, Negussey was able to recruit three SU GEM graduate students. In the next three to four years he hopes to gain 15 to 20 students, he added.

Ducre said the true measure of success for diversity initiatives will be how they deal with a problem or controversy. If the initiatives are successful, they will mitigate problems, she said.

“That will be the true test,” Ducre said.

Published on November 13, 2018 at 10:08 pm

Contact Diana: dianar@dailyorange.com