Reestablishing diversity efforts requires leadership to overcome the false narratives drummed up by state and federal lawmakers aiming to dismantle DEI, says Paullette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
“It’s building on a lot of myths around diversity as though its singular focus is on race or gender or orientation, which it’s not,” Russell says on The University Business Podcast. “But it conjures up this idea that undeserving people are taking opportunities away from more deserving people.”
Encouraging programming and civil dialogue with conservatives is one important way for chief diversity officers to alleviate skepticism of DEI. However, it can be difficult to find the “sweet spot” in reconciling the views of people who believe this country’s systems are fair with those who’ve historically felt shut out, Russell says.
“I don’t know that we’ve really found it yet, but we’re working on it. When [diversity officers] make mistakes, correct them. Don’t shut them down and threaten to take away all of their federal funding.”
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As challenging as the work might be, diversity officers must continue to deemphasize group identity politics. Instead, they must champion the qualities that make each student unique.
For example, the pandemic and its aftermath heightened awareness about how students’ home lives, income levels and internet access impact their ability to succeed. Addressing mental health and basic needs is now an important component of many campus strategic plans.
“You can be in a room of individuals that look like you, whose gender may be the same as you, but you can trust that even among those who you assume represent one demographic, there’s diversity among them,” Russell says. “Our campuses are filled with a range of lived experiences that you might encounter every day but that you don’t necessarily think about. We have a responsibility to think about that.”
