Higher Education and the Evolution of DEI: Lessons Learned and Resilient Inclusive Practices

Whatever you call it, diversity, inclusion, equality, equity, access, belonging, or any combination therein, it is undeniable that this work has been through many iterations and has dawned many names since the passing of the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. Also indisputable is that since the passing of those civil rights acts, policies and practices aimed at creating more fair and inclusive institutions have at best-faced criticism and, at worst, been confronted with vitriolic backlash. The present historical moment, when cancelation and freezes in federal funding were combined with threats of investigation or litigation for noncompliance with a slew of executive orders, is most egregious.

Combined with the fact higher education institutions as a whole, especially in the United States, are facing expected budget cuts stemming from frozen federal funding, lower enrolments due to population shifts and rising criticism of a college degree, and challenges to attracting international students, professionals in this space are finding this work especially difficult. Given the extreme financial, political, and legal pressures that leaders of inclusion work in higher education have faced over the past decade, the case could be made that our higher education colleagues have developed a wealth of practical knowledge that all of us could learn from as we work out how to remain resilient and evolve in our practice for inclusion in the face of adversity.

In this episode of Translocating Inclusion, we are joined by Amer Ahmed, Ed.D., Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the University of Vermont, to discuss how leaders have demonstrated resiliency in the face of multiple challenges with purpose and strategy. Dr. Ahmed is a nationally recognized DEI practitioner and thought leader, so this discussion will engage the simultaneous questions of what's next for DEI generally, what effective inclusion strategies look like in the evolving regulatory landscape, and can higher education institutions or any organization for that matter, be successful without inclusion. We will delve into the complex relationship between inclusive environments and excellence. We will suggest strategies for resiliency and sustaining momentum for meaningful change amid political, social, and institutional pressures.