The University will be implementing changes in response to the Report of the Special Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that was released in May 2015, Vice Provost for Institutional Diversity and Equality Michele Minter said.
Tthe changesinclude updates to the Policy on Discrimination and Harassment, changes to the ‘Reflections on Diversity’ orientation session and enhancements to Fields Center programs, Minter saidsaid.
The task force'sreport highlighted recommendations that have been or will be implemented soon, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email to the student body on Sept. 25.
Calhoun deferred comment to Minter.
According to the Task Force’s report, national events involving issues of diversity and inclusion, such as #BlackLivesMatter protests, led to growing student concern about these issues in the fall of 2014. In response, the Council of the Princeton University Community Executive Committee appointed a task force with the intention of finding ways to improve campus climate through recommendations that would impact students.
Minter said that although it is still early in the academic year, much will be accomplished in the coming months. She noted that continued student input is important, alongside student outreach efforts.
“There will be periodic updates to the campus community and a report at the upcoming CPUC meeting,” she said.
The Provost’s Office allocated over $400,000 to support three Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students Centers in order to support expanded programming and increase staffing at the Fields and Women’s Centers. Student organizations are also encouraged to apply for funds.
According to the task force’s report, the Policy on Discrimination and Harassment has been moved into Rights, Rules and Responsibility with a frequently asked questions section to make the policy more accessible to students. Residential college advisers, center directors and sports club officers will be trained on how to respond to these instances.
Change to academics is ongoing, with the Task Force on General Education considering how diversity and culture issues can be incorporated into the curriculum. Efforts are also being made to increase access to demographic data and increase public programming.
Programming will include a year-long public lecture and discussion series, “Inequity Science,” presented by the Department of Psychology, the Center for African American Studies and the Behavioral Policy Center, according to Calhoun's email.
Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Studies Thomas Dunne said that promoting diversity and inclusion is a high priority for the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. He noted that ODUS regularly reviews programs and services in order to ensure that they are engaging to students.
ODUS revamped the “Reflections on Diversity” orientation session for freshmen and featured Sam Offer, a national expert in diversity and inclusion training, Dunne said.
RCAs also participated in a workshop facilitated by Offer focused on promoting dialogue following the program, and a workshop hosted by diversity expertDerek Greenfield that aimed to help RCAs promote the inclusion of all students, Dunne added.
“For many students, diversity and inclusion work is most directly experienced through the noteworthy efforts of their peers,” Dunne said. “All cultural and identity-based undergraduate student groups are advised by ODUS and we are most grateful for the breadth and depth of programs students sponsor on campus.”
Dunne also noted that three ODUS Centers – the LGBT Center, the Women’s Center and Fields Center – are critical in directing the diversity and inclusion work in ODUS.
Tennille Haynes, director of the Fields Center, said that the Task Force’s recommendations to the Fields Center included increasing staffing, program enhancement and a reevaluation of the Center’s mission statement.A diversity peer education program is also being developed based on the Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education model.
Student initiatives are encouraged, with funding available for cultural and identity based events, Haynes added.
A programming study will also reevaluate the spatial needs of the Center in order to make it more accommodating to students, Hayes said, adding that the Center considered student feedback from focus groups when making changes such as extending building hours, adding outdoor furniture to the lawn and offering the Center as a space for student events centered on themes of diversity.
Haynes noted that the Center is in search of two program coordinators to enhance programs and strengthen the center as a home base for students of color, and hopes to have the positions filled before the end of the fall semester.
The Center is also working to redevelop the Princeton University Peer Mentoring Program, as well as transition Fellows into Diversity Peer Educators who will be able to work around issues of diversity, inclusion and social justice, she said.
She added that a curriculum based on identity development is expected to be completed by the fall of 2016.
“My hopes and plans are to [have the Fields Center be] a space where students of color can have meaningful and engaging dialogues, host their events and programs, study and just hang out,” she said.
LGBT Center director and founder Debbie Bazarskydeferred comment to Minter. Bazarsky recentlytook a role in the Office of Human Resources.
Amada Sandoval, director of the Women’s Center, declined to comment.
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