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During a Syracuse University diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility forum, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Mary Grace A. Almandrez said the university has made “a lot of changes” to its student recruitment process since the United States Supreme Court decided to overturn affirmative action.

Although Almandrez did not specify what changes the university made, she said SU will continue to emphasize diversity among its faculty, staff and students. For instance, SU will also begin using an inclusive hiring and onboarding guide for faculty in the coming months, she said.

“We all know the decision that came down in regards to race-conscious admissions, and we are working through the changes in terms of making sure that we recruit and retain a diverse student body,” Almandrez said.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 29, a series of administrators — including Chancellor Kent Syverud, Vice Chancellor Gretchen Ritter and Board of Trustees Chair Jeff Scruggs — wrote in a campus-wide email that the decision was “disappointing.” They wrote that the university had already established a working group tasked with promoting diversity within the campus community in anticipation of the decision.

Throughout Monday’s event, administrators updated attendees on the progress of its DEIA goals this year and new goals for the 2024-2025 academic year. For the upcoming year, Almandrez said the university will further promote universal design for accessibility at major events and appoint faculty members to help plan the university’s next DEIA symposium.

Since June, the university has restructured its internal DEIA councils and committees, Almandrez said. SU has also implemented several new trainings for university faculty, including disability access trainings it held in July as well as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s CORE workshop series it began this semester, she said.

“We’re paying attention to all these different events that are happening across campus and trying to be mindful in including voices at the table that weren’t always included at the table or asked to be at the table or recreating the tables for those voices to be amplified and acknowledged,” Almandrez said.

Almandrez discussed how the university is weaving its DEIA initiatives into its ongoing projects, such as its Academic Strategic Plan and updated academic freedom statement — which Syverud first announced during a Dec. 13 University Senate meeting.

Throughout the event, Almandrez and the other administrators emphasized how SU’s DEIA initiatives impact faculty, highlighting several DEIA-based faculty and staff programs. The forum also emphasized the importance of promoting individual wellness when addressing complex and often difficult topics like DEIA.

Following Almandrez’s remarks and a subsequent Q&A session, ODI Strategic Communications and Initiatives Executive Director Eboni Britt introduced Marcelle Haddix, SU’s associate provost for strategic initiatives. In her portion of the presentation, Haddix conducted a breathing and intention-setting session while also explaining the importance of prioritizing rest.

After the forum, attendees split into five breakout groups, most emphasizing rest, health and wellness. Some of the sessions included a pop-up session for ODI’s lonely campus podcast, a Carebridge information booth and several physical wellness activities such as meditation and yoga.

Khaled Attia, an SU senior who attended the yoga session, said he came to the forum after hearing about it from one of his professors. He said he was surprised to see how the yoga instructor drew ties between yoga and DEIA themes, such as the importance of avoiding appropriation.

“My most important takeaway was how the whole DEIA and wellness go hand and hand,” Attia said.

Attia also said he feels that students on campus often ignore DEIA due to a lack of understanding of other cultures. He said he hopes holding programming that features diverse students would create a more “equitable environment.”

Another attendee, Socorro Koseki, a part-time Spanish instructor at SU, said she was partially motivated to attend the event due to her own background as a Japanese and Mexican woman. She said DEIA conversations both apply to her personal identity and her work as a language teacher.

Koseki said she appreciated how the event encouraged attendees to reflect on themselves when engaging in DEIA work. She also said it was “awesome” that the presenters emphasized different ways to get involved with on-campus initiatives.

Almandrez said that after hosting an inaugural DEIA symposium in October of last year, ODI plans to hold a similar event in fall 2025. In the past, the university used community feedback from previous DEIA forums to inform discussion topics for the symposium.

“This is the most diverse country in the world, and it’s just surprising how we lose the sense of that,” Koseki said. “I think it’s really nice to have events and remind people that we live in diversity and we need to respect it. We need to learn from each other.”

Published on March 5, 2024 at 12:03 am

Contact Julia: [email protected]