CAMRY DEAN
Staff Writer
Over the next five years, Fredonia will be working to implement new diversity initiatives to the college standards using a newly adopted strategic plan that is “centered in excellence.”
On Nov. 13, a forum for the finalized draft of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan was held in the Williams Center and it encouraged feedback and thoughts from participants in the room.
William Boerner, chief diversity officer, held the forum along with members of the working group, including faculty, students and staff for the plan.
In the fall of 2015, SUNY Chancellor Nancy. L Zimpher signed a diversity policy for all of the SUNY campuses to utilize.
“About a little over a year ago, in the fall of 2015, the Chancellor [of SUNY] signed into policy a specific diversity equity and inclusion policy that identified what every SUNY campus would do to support the efforts of diversity and inclusion on our campuses,” Boerner said. “One of those was the creation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan.”
In response to the SUNY Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy, Fredonia created its own strategic plan.
“Additionally, the plan reveals a growing institutional responsibility and commitment to social justice, as well as the needs of the campus community. This plan was conceived through a multi-faceted and extensive approach in which the students, faculty, staff and community contributed to understanding where the institution has been, is currently situated, and plans to advance regarding inclusive efforts,” reads the finalized draft of the plan.
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan consists of four different efforts: Communication, Assessment and Implementation, Recruitment and Retention, and Engagement and Education, which is an acronym for C.A.R.E. and each effort has its own set of goals.
The plan hopes to create a dialogue on campus by employing the goals of the communication efforts. The goals include creating a better way to report incidents of discrimination and utilizing social media for information on diverse events on campus. Furthermore, the goal is to create awareness about incidents of bias and Fredonia’s response, which includes debriefing for the campus community and providing safe spaces.
The strategy even includes plans to “improve recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty and staff to parallel the changing demographics and needs of the University,” which includes expanding training opportunities for search committees based on inclusivity and submitting candidates for the SUNY Faculty Diversity program.
This fall, Fredonia also committed to a Strategic Enrollment Management plan that focuses on the need of recruitment of students of underrepresented demographics. 20.7 percent of all Fredonia students are from underrepresented racial minorities, though this number is increasing yearly.
Currently, Fredonia’s student population is 56.9 percent female and 43.1 percent male.
When Boerner opened the forum up for discussion, psychology professor Andrea Zevenbergen mentioned gender identity when taking a consensus of the population and suggested different terminology.
“You’re talking about people either identifying as either female or male,” Zevenbergen said. “Do you want to use the term ‘identifying’ or ‘self-identifying’ because we know [on our campus] there are people who would not identify as either male or female.”
Most times when asked about an individual’s gender identity, they may not find an option that aligns with how they identify, and this is important in terms of gender inclusion.
“We also have some demographics for individuals who are gender non-conforming or identify as [transgender] so we could perhaps include that from the undergraduate population,” Boerner said. “[The research] is from institutional research so it might also be a ‘forced choice,’ and we could possibly have an [option] to explain or identify differently.”
The plan also includes a percentage for students self-reported as members of LGBTQ+/MOGII community, which is 11 percent of Fredonia’s student population.
Another issue that was discussed was faculty involvement in diversity and inclusion and how to handle situations of bias or discrimination to make students feel heard, comfortable and safe.
Following the presidential election earlier this month, many students were shocked at the results and felt disheartened during the days following.
While some students mourned and were concerned for future of their rights under the new administration and their safety due to the increase of hate crimes across the U.S., especially the incidents close to campus in Canisius where students posted a photo of a black baby doll hanging from a dorm room curtain rod or at SUNY Genesee where a swastika and the word “Trump” were painted outside of a residence hall, faculty on campus might have felt uncomfortable or unsure how to act in class or with students following the election, or if to act at all.
Students at the forum observed different reactions from professors that ranged from being told to “get over it” to being welcomed with support and encouraging discussion, while some professors decided to not talk about it altogether. This raised the question of faculty feeling too unprepared for a dialogue in their classroom.
Discussion turned into ways faculty can become more inclusive, and the room talked about different platforms in which interested faculty can be trained in diversity.
“Years ago, I went to my first Safe Zone training, and I learned a lot about things I had never thought about or learned about. I wanted to be inclusive and allow people to have a safe space, but I had no idea how to do that,” said psychology professor Dani McMay. “We haven’t done that in a long time, and I don’t know how else we would increase awareness of what the issues are if we don’t have some kind of faculty training.”
The ideas of forums, meetings and presentations during Professional Development Day were discussed.
The finalized drafts of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan can be found on the website of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and any feedback or suggestions are welcomed by the office and Boerner.