George Washington University
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE) includes the Vice Provost, Associate Vice Provost, Director for Community Engagement and DC Partnerships, Executive Administrator 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 Diversity and Inclusion Education.

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) Continued educating all incoming first-year undergraduate students on terms, language and resurces to engage in thoughtful conversations about diversity, identity and inclusion with an online Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) educational module (2) In Spring 2022 hired an Asst. Dir., for Cultural Programming & Social Justice Education to develop a variety of cross-cultural educational programs to create and build strong communities (3) ODECE continues to manage the university's bias reporting website, which allows 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 (4) continued to sponsor and support Diversity and Inclusion programming for the university community including a) the Diversity Summit, which was held virtually Fall 2020 and 2021 and in person in Spring 2023. The 2023 Diversity Summit included various workshops related to DEI and a keynote address from comedian and social justice activist Negin Farsad; b) in Summer 2020 and Spring 2021, ODECE in collaboration with several campus partners organized GW In Solidarity, a space for healing, learning, unlearning, processing and identifying action plans following the heightened visibility of violence in Summer 2020, after the deaths of multiple Black people in the United States and in Spring 2021, the ensuing violence against the Asian community; c.) ODECE continued the Race In America Lecture series virutally in Fall 2020 with Professor Nikole Hannah-Jones discussing her award winning 1619 Project: Reflecting on the Legacy of Slavery in America and in Spring 2021 with Abby D. Phillip discussing her views on the racial climate covering past U.S. Presidential elections and the importance of diversity in journalism and media (5) In Fall of 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service (Nashman Center) and the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) continued its programming for student leaders with the Institue for Citizen Leaders (ICL). A program for student leaders serving in the ODECE and other student scholars that promote active citizenship within a diverse democracy (6) Disability Support Services (DSS) expanded its staff to be able to meet the needs of increasng number of students registered with DSS who are in need of accommodations and supports to succeed in their studies. Additionally, provided programming for Disability Awareness Month and in recognition of the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); (7) the Nashman Center, as well as MSSC and ODECE hosted social gatherings and activities recognizing LGBTQIA awareness month and National Coming Out Day (8) ODECE has provided funding to other groups across campus to support diversity, equity and includion education and awareness. (9) MSSC continued to sponsor student organizations 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 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. The Office of Advocacy and Support has begun working with GW Police to provide trainings to officers responding to incidences of sexual violence on campus to ensure appropriate sensitivity and support for survivors.

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