By the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center 

Below is a message from Valerie Hayes, introducing a report on the recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. 

Twenty-four (24) states have passed or are in the process of passing anti-DEI legislation on the belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is discrimination and indoctrination and therefore must be eliminated. 

The anti-DEI movement in higher education is part of a larger focus on higher education, such as academic freedom and faculty governance.

The assault on DEI, in part, started with a misunderstanding of critical race theory.

In September 2020 during the COVID pandemic, we began to experience the first legislative efforts when there was misinformation about critical race being taught in K-12. A 2021 INSIGHT Into Diversity article described critical race theory as “a legal theory developed by Kimberle Crenshaw, a constitutional law professor at Columbia University School of Law and a leading scholar on critical race theory. Critical race theory was developed in the 1970s to help explain how systemic racism has shaped the U.S. legal system.”

Critical race theory is not taught in K-12, and never has been. Age-appropriate American history that includes Black history is taught in K-12. 

Dr. Damon Williams who is well-known among the chief diversity officer community defined the anti-DEI movement in this way: “A highly coordinated legislative effort to limit diversity, equity, and inclusion freedoms, definitions, programs, funding, strategies, and approaches that benefit women, LGBTQ, racial, ethnic, disability, and other diverse communities, and DEI champions by changing laws, policy, and language in public and by extension, private institutions.” 

He identified four (4) main policy areas: “Anti-strategic DEI leadership, anti-DEI curriculum & training, anti-LGBTQ community, and anti-reproductive rights.” 

He also identified the diverse groups and categories impacted by the anti-DEI legislative movement: "DEI Generally, race & ethnicity, internation, transgender & gender identity, women reproductive, higher education, K-12, health care, government, and private companies.”  

Dr. Shaun Harper, founding executive director of the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center, released a new report, Truths About DEI on College Campuses: Evidence-Based Expert Responses to Politicized Misinformation, in which he and his colleagues delve into the background of the current anti-DEI movement and combat misinformation.

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By Winston-Salem State University 

Just last year, WSSU's Nursing Honor Society partnered with Stockton University and offered forums that centered on being multicultural healthcare pfoessionals. Below is the feature that WSSU wrote for their news website. 

Winston-Salem State University’s Rho Lambda Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing was awarded the International Chapter Key Award for its excellence in service, community outreach and leadership development at the 47th Biennial Convention in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 15.

Chapter President, Dr. Kimya Nance, and Secretary Hartensia Davis-Bailey, accepted the award. The chapter is now a three-time awardee of the International Key Award.

The chapter has conducted several outreach projects throughout the region. In April 2023, the chapter partnered with Red Bank ministries to donate more than 200 blankets for patients in local hemodialysis centers. To address food insecurity, the chapter launched a Meals for Tots outreach project sponsored by Texas Roadhouse. The outreach project provided free meals for preschool-age children in the Winston-Salem community.

This semester, the nursing honor society partnered with the Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency to support families of need with a Thanksgiving dinner, and it also collected coats to support the Piedmont Black Nurses Association efforts for WSOC TV Channel 9’s Steve Coats for Kids drive in Charlotte, NC. 

The chapter offers its members funding for professional development and research, a mentoring program, leadership development apprenticeships, and student sponsorships for the NCLEX-RN, Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Educator Certification exams. Through its elevation series, the chapter has hosted research forums, webinars on racial inequity in healthcare, and seminars to support new registered nurses during their first year of practice. 

Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing was established in 1922 at Indiana University School of Nursing. The six founders chose the name from the Greek words, storgé, thárros and timé, meaning love, courage and honor. The society has more than 100,000 members who reside in more than 100 countries. The honor society was the first organization to fund nursing research and continues throughout its 100-year history to recognize the value of scholarship and excellence in nursing practice. Sigma’s vision is connected, empowered nurses transforming global healthcare. The mission of the organization is to develop nurse leaders anywhere to improve healthcare everywhere. 

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By the Gerontological Society of America 

Below is "Research Age as a Diversity Factor in Institutions of Higher Education," a featured article from the Gerontological Society of America's Winter 2024 newsletter, "Age Inclusivity in Higher Education," shared with us by our friends in the Stockton Center of Successful Aging (SCOSA), which works to provide programming that centers older adults and their journey of lifelong learning. 

The Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at Washington University in St. Louis has been interested in how universities incorporate age into their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The Center set out to explore this topic as part of its Age-Friendly University (AFU) initiative—WashU for Life—and its work around age inclusivity on college campuses.The Center aimed to describe how the DEI staff of other universities/colleges think about age as a diversity factor and to document strategies being used to address ageism and increase age inclusivity. 

DEI efforts have been growing at institutions across the country over the last several years. At the same time, there has been an expansion of the AFU Global Network and an increase in fostering age-inclusive campuses. We at the Center for Aging were curious about how these two initiatives were (or were not) intersecting at other institutions of higher education. To gather more information about this intersection of age-inclusivity and DEI initiatives, we conducted focus groups and individual interviews with staff of campus-wide DEI offices. 

Forty-two participants from 36 institutions of higher education were represented. We asked questions about how participants thought age fit in the scope of diversity in higher education, the value of DEI efforts in addressing age, and the best strategies for becoming more age inclusive or inspiring and motivating institutions to do something about age as a diversity issue.

Overall, we learned from other institutions that, while age is identified as a diversity factor, it is usually not a part of the educational and advocacy efforts of DEI offices. This was not dissimilar to the experiences we were having at our own university. Participants in the study pointed out that ageism remains unnoticed and unchallenged. More research in this area is certainly needed to explore interventions to incorporate age as a diversity factor and to identify which approaches are most acceptable and effective in reducing age stereotypes and bias. The full study, “Age as a Factor in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Higher Education,” will be published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. 

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By The Villanova Initiative to Support Inclusiveness and Build Leaders  

Incoming provost, Dr. Michael Palladino, shared the opportunity below to Valerie for the Digest. 

The Villanova Initiative to Support Inclusiveness and Build Leaders (VISIBLE) is proud to present the inaugural Symposium on Leadership and Equity to Advance All Faculty (LEAF) from Tuesday, May 21, to Thursday, May 23, 2024, at The Inn at Villanova.

The LEAF Symposium will feature: 

• Keynote addresses from nationally-recognized speakers. 
• Praxis and research-based sessions on improving equity for faculty. 
• Interactive performances and workshops from DEI-focused theatre troupes. 
• Opportunities to build formal and informal networks with other attendees. 

Call for Programs

Submissions can include a panel discussion, workshop, demonstration, roundtable discussion, or poster presentation with Lightning Session (5-minute presentation). Content can be scholarly or praxis. Suggested presentation themes include staff and student collaboration; putting initiatives into practice; including "equity" in one's mission or academic narrative; and imagining a new generation of faculty in higher education. Abstracts, rationales, technology requirements and more can be specified in the interest form. 

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