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Letter from EHE Office of Diversity and Inclusion

Dear Colleagues,VK_Scarlet and Gray
In August 2014, Dean Cheryl Achterberg appointed me Director of the EHE Office of Diversity and Inclusion (EHE ODI).One of the first tasks was to reconstitute the office and align its goals, purpose, and mission with those of the college (EHE) and the university’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. To begin, we (EHE ODI team members) created initiatives reflective of topics in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we fostered conversations among faculty, staff, and students in EHE and across the university and with partners in the local community. As Director, I wanted to position the office as integral to the development, implementation, and promotion of dynamic programming for faculty, staff, students, and community partners to think expansively and critically about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Thus, there was an intentional focus placed on social, civil, educational, and human ecological rights. Over the next three-to-five years, the EHE ODI team seeks to increase the various ways members of the college are supported to engage in high-quality research, outreach, advocacy, and mentoring initiatives.

In other words, we hope to:
• Increase the involvement of faculty, staff, students, and community partners in the office’s programming.
• Fostering a positive, critical climate of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the college.
• Establish meaningful relationships with the University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and with other departments and colleges at OSU.
• Enhance the college’s focus on justice and urban education.
• Initiate new and enhancing existing partnerships related to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the college, university, and in the local community.

We invite people to think about the roles of diversity, equity, and inclusion on college campuses, generally, and in colleges and schools of education, specifically, in ways that call attention to organized, strategic forms of action and activism. Given the ongoing events occurring across the world—the killing of unarmed people of color and especially Black men, women, and children; acts of terrorism; the increasing violent, hateful, and racist acts on college campuses; student demonstrations, sit-ins, and protests on college campuses; the #BlackLivesMatter movement; etc.—the need to create critical academic spaces in higher education where discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion take center-stage remains pertinent. The EHE ODI takes seriously President Dr. Michael Drakes’ statement on the recent events at the University of Missouri and elsewhere.

His statement reads:
The recent events at the University of Missouri, Yale and other campuses reinforce the vitally important role that universities play in confronting issues of racism, intolerance and insensitivity in American society. This moment is an opportunity for us to reflect and learn. Our students, faculty, staff and community members must continue to engage actively in conversation and be relentless in our ongoing efforts to create a university that is evermore open, welcoming and nurturing to all” (November 13, 2015; see https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/11/13/statement-from-president-michael-v.-drake/).

We welcome ideas for additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships within the college and within the university and local-global communities. Welcome to our office and to our newsletter.

Sincerely,
Valerie Kinloch, Director of EHE ODI