George Washington University
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE) includes the Vice Provost, Associate Provost and Special Assistant and includes 5 units, including Disability Support Services (DSS), Honey W. Nashman Center Civic Engagement and Public Service, Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC),Title IX and newly added Diversity and Inclusion Edcuation. The Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement’s (ODECE) broad mission is to enhance the academic excellence of GW by making it a more diverse and inclusive community. The central office and 5 functional units of ODECE supports GW’s strategic diversity priorities by providing diversity expertise, tools, training, data and programming that inform and shape curricular, policies, faculty recruiting, research, administrative and outreach activities The office oversees the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarship program. During this reporting period, ODECE and its respective units worked on and accomplished the following activities: (1) the university updated the Code of Student Conduct to address non-sex based harassment and discrimination (2) the university revised its Equal Opportunity Policy Statement to include definition of terms, examples of conduct that could constitiute violations of the policy and possible sanction or corrective actions and information regarding where community members can report concerns depending on whether they are students, faculty or staff (3) a new, interactive online educational module was launced in Spring 2019 to educate all incoming first-year undergraduate students on terms, language and resources to engage in thoughtful conversations about diversity, identity and inclusion (4) In Spring 2019,ODECE launched a new website for reporting incidents of bias allowing university community members to report, including anonymously, incidents of bias and other forms of unwelcome conduct motivated by hatred based on race, color, religion, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin or any other factor (5) continued to sponsor and support Diversity and Inclusion programming for the campus commuity including collaborating with the March on Washington Film Festival for a special free screening of the motion picture, The Best of Enemies,a true story based on the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (7) held the annual Diversity Summit in Fall 2018, a two-day event for GW community members which included a keynote address by Jemele Hill and a full day of educaitonal sessions, poster presentations and a panel discussion on academic freedom, hate speech and inlcusion in the classroom (8) the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) organized the Institue for Citizen Leaders (ICL). A program for student leaders in the ODECE and other student scholars that promotes active citizenship within a diverse democracy (9) hosted social gathering and activities recognizing LGBTQIA awareness month and National Coming Out Day ODECE (10) ODECE has provided funding through its Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion grants program. This internal grant program allows students, faculty, staff, and units to apply for funding to support innovative ideas that advance GW’s commitment to diversity and inclusion (11) MSSC sponsored student organiations in hosting month long cultural heritage clebrations for African-American, Latinx, South Asian, Native American and Pacific Islander students and GW community members.

In Fall 2018, the university updated the Code of Student Conduct to address non-sex based harassment and discrimination. The Code adds new language on discriminatory harassment and unlawful discrimination, clearing the path for charges to be brought on those bases. The university hired a Director for Diversity & Inclusion Education who is a formally trained social justice educator and who has been a part of national opportunities to facilitate discussion on diversity, inclusion and equity. The Director is responsible for developing a more systemic and institutionalized approach to providing educaitonal workshops for addressing diveristy, cultural competence, intercultural communications, anti-racism, unconscious bias, equity and other topics. The Vice Provost, Director and MSSC Directors conducted educational workshops on unconscious bias for a variety of audiences in the campus community. Workshops on unconscious bias, Title IX, and discrimination prevention are now a standard part of new faculty and new academic leader orientation. In addition to instituting mandatory training on sexual assault prevention for all entering students, all GW staff are required to take sexual harassment training. In Spring 2019, the university revised its Equal Opportunity Policy Statement, The new policy is called the Equal Opportunity, Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy and Non-Retaliation. The revisions add more information to the policy: definitions of terms, examples of conduct the could constitute violations of the policy and possible sanctions or corrective actions and information regarding where community members can report concerns depending on whether they are students, faculty or staff. In Spring 2019, a new, interactive online educational module was launced for all new incoming students. The module educates students on terms, language and resources to engage in thoughtful conversations about diversity, identity and inclusion. In Feb. 2019, our office launched a new website for reporting incidents of bias. The site allows any university community member to report, inlcuding anonymously, incidents of bias and other forms of unwelcome conduct motivated by hatred based on race, color, religion, gender or gender identiy, sexual orientation, national origin or any other factor. Reports to the site alert the university allowing the appropriate staff from the Bias Incident Response Team to respond with individualized support depending on the stituation. Other resources are available for students who want to file a formal complaint or request an investigation of an incident. The Multicultural Students Services Center (MSSC) provides trainings on cultural competence, safe zone (LGBTQ), religious and multicultural diversity and leadership to support the campus climate that welcomes cultural, racial, ethnic and intellectual diversity. The Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) organized the Institue for Citizen Leaders (ICL). ICL is a program for student leaders in the ODECE and other student scholars that promotes active citizenship within a diverse democracy. The annual Diversity Summit was held Fall 2019 for the GW community. The Summit includes a keynote address related to diversity, equity and inclusion and a day long series of educational workshops. The office continued its Institute for Citizen Leaders for student leaders across the division to connect and learn and understand the core values and visiion for academic excellence, social responsibility, leadership and cultural competence.

https://diversity.gwu.edu/education-learning-opportunities, https://mssc.gwu.edu/training

https://haven.gwu.edu/mandatory-student-training,
https://diversity.gwu.edu/IDI-grants-program
https://diversity.gwu.edu/diversity-summit