Goshen College
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

To fulfill our commitment to provide equal opportunity in education and employment, Goshen College provides an environment that supports racial harmony and cross cultural communication.

Goshen College does not condone and will not tolerate inappropriate conduct toward any individual based on a person’s skin color, ethnicity, or national origin.

This policy ensures the understanding that racial misconduct is unacceptable and prohibited. All members of the campus community are encouraged to reflect upon the issue of racial misconduct as it directly affects the lives and conducts of others.

Such racial misconduct includes but is not limited to inappropriate racial comments, slurs, jokes, pictures, objects, threats, physical assaults, intimidation, unequal application of policies, and unequal or biased grading. This encompasses offensiveness and misconduct that does not reach the level of racism, and misconduct that is sufficiently severe and pervasive that it rises to the level of racial harassment or discrimination. https://www.goshen.edu/about/community/policy-procedures-racial-misconduct-racial-harassment-discrimination/

The Bias Matters Response Team (BMRT) receives all reports of bias-related incidents of discrimination and harassment. An on-line reporting form allows individuals who experienced or witnessed discrimination or harassment to report the incident which is then handled by the BMRT. In coordination with the DEI office, the BMRT investigates the reported incident. In addition to the investigative work, the BMRT provides supportive work to assure that the needs of those impacted, or potentially impacted, by the incident are being met. They work actively to address and support individual needs by reaching out to colleagues and departments across the institution to develop a specific plan for members of the community who might be impacted — directly or indirectly — by incidents. When appropriate, and for incidents that come to the public awareness and knowledge, the BMRT works with senior administration to address the issue via campus communications and messaging. Finally, the team works closely with advisors of student groups impacted to provide resources, programming and support for those groups and other constituents.

https://www.goshen.edu/campuslife/racial-misconduct/

Several endowed scholarships are available to recruit minority students (specific to Latino and African-American prospective students).

The Teach Elkhart County program was developed fall 2019 by the Education Department to recruit students of color from Elkhart County to teach in local schools with specific mentoring supports, preferred employment placements and sign-on bonuses in the first 2-3 years of employment. https://www.goshen.edu/academics/Teach-Elkhart-County/

To address the need for hiring faculty from under-represented groups, the VP for academic affairs has instituted a policy to standardize the job posting language to be more inclusive and require that search committees have at least one member from an underrepresented group.

The Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion convenes monthly lunch-time conversations specifically for employees (faculty and staff) of color to talk about anything related to challenges, issues, or barriers that may be affecting individual employees.

Campus clubs such as the Latino Student Union Club and the Black Student Union Club provide social and emotional support for under-represented student groups on campus. In addition, the International Student Club exists for the same purposes for international students. There are multiple counseling and academic support programs geared specifically to underrepresented groups on campus.

Special speakers and programs geared toward understanding diverse faculty and staff. One example is a reading club used to talk about diversity issues; for example, a recent discussion was on The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea who also came to speak to the college in 2012. With the combination of the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL) and the Multicultural Affairs Office (MAO) resulting in the Center for Intercultural and International Education (CIIE), the college renovated a building in the center of campus to create a physical space for meetings, showcasing international art, and a safe space for students to gather.

The Teach Elkhart County program (described above) includes a mentoring and support component specifically to support students of color pursuing a degree in education.

Goshen College implemented a gender-inclusive residential option for non-binary students fall of 2019 (described in the Student Life Handbook), and is currently locating single use restroom options, though a map or list of those locations is not yet available.