2020 State of Diversity Session II

Office of Diversity and Inclusion Author

10/26/2020 Added

141 Plays

Description

Inclusive excellence is a core priority of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln — but what steps are we taking to actively ensure that it takes place at our institution? The State of Diversity 2020 highlights the improvements the university has made in the past year to cultivate a more inclusive space for our past, present, and future Huskers.

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[00:00:00.800]Certainly, welcome back to our State of Diversity.
[00:00:03.210]As many of you are entering this Session Two
[00:00:06.720]of our two part State of Diversity, we ask you
[00:00:09.640]to adhere to our Zoom etiquette.
[00:00:12.460]And so, this is a panel format for this afternoon's session,
[00:00:17.450]and so, we have muted participants.
[00:00:19.920]However, you are able to use the
[00:00:23.083]Q&A function of this particular chat room,
[00:00:26.360]that would allow you to, one, if there are issues
[00:00:28.560]that you're experiencing in terms of technical difficulties,
[00:00:30.610]you can communicate that to us using the Q&A feature.
[00:00:33.870]And then, also,
[00:00:35.860]as we move on through the panel, if you do have questions
[00:00:38.950]for our panelists, you can certainly submit those
[00:00:41.723]with the question and answer feature, as well.
[00:00:44.770]Please note, that once your question is getting addressed,
[00:00:47.760]it may disappear from the function.
[00:00:49.290]And so, don't worry, we've not, we've not deleted,
[00:00:51.830]deleted your question, that we have put it in the queue,
[00:00:54.760]in terms of being asked.
[00:00:56.770]There may be other questions that you ask
[00:00:58.830]that are better suited for a follow-up via email,
[00:01:01.910]or a conversation with someone on our team,
[00:01:04.120]and we will certainly make sure that
[00:01:06.720]we are able to accommodate that.
[00:01:08.520]Lastly, and most importantly, in terms of access,
[00:01:10.720]we have provided closed captions as an option.
[00:01:13.120]And so, you can find that button
[00:01:15.110]at the bottom lower-right hand corner of the Zoom window,
[00:01:18.450]to ensure that if, for those who may be hard of hearing,
[00:01:22.370]and it could be extremely important
[00:01:24.340]to have those closed captioning.
[00:01:26.720]But at this stage we will move into
[00:01:28.840]this afternoon's session, and to start with introductions
[00:01:32.500]we have Dr. Nkenge Friday, Assistant Vice Chancellor
[00:01:35.420]for Strategic Initiatives.
[00:01:36.390]Dr. Friday.
[00:01:38.300]Good morning, again, everyone,
[00:01:39.620]and welcome to Session Number Two.
[00:01:42.090]I'm gonna start with our panelists in alphabetical order.
[00:01:44.960]And just as a reminder, in the chat feature you'll see
[00:01:48.740]there is a link to access the panelists' full bios
[00:01:52.310]on our website.
[00:01:54.110]So I'm gonna start with Dr. Katrice Albert.
[00:01:56.850]She's EVP, Culture, Innovation and Inclusion 2A, I'm sorry,
[00:02:02.170]S2A Solutions, Founder and Managing Director
[00:02:05.060]of the Third Eye Consulting.
[00:02:06.650]And she's a passionate national thought leader,
[00:02:08.500]who has masterfully interwoven the areas
[00:02:10.730]of inclusive excellence, higher education,
[00:02:13.600]intercollegiate athletics, culture, and engagement
[00:02:16.410]with a penchant for people-centered talent management,
[00:02:19.100]and mission-driven visionary leadership.
[00:02:21.420]Dr. Albert has a distinguished career in higher education
[00:02:24.480]and intercollegiate athletics.
[00:02:26.250]Most recently, she served as the Executive Vice President
[00:02:28.950]of Inclusion and Human Resources at the NCAA.
[00:02:32.700]Previously, she served as Vice President for Equity
[00:02:35.590]and Diversity of the University of Minnesota system,
[00:02:38.520]and before that, as Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity
[00:02:41.880]and Community Outreach at Louisiana State University.
[00:02:45.840]Dr. Albert.
[00:02:47.410]We also have alongside us Dr. Rona Tamiko Halualani.
[00:02:51.490]I think many of us are probably familiar with
[00:02:53.870]Dr. Halualani, as our experience
[00:02:56.237]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has shown us.
[00:02:59.110]She's one of the Founders of Halualani & Associates,
[00:03:01.760]and is a leading presenter and author in the field
[00:03:04.110]of intercultural communication, and diversity analytics.
[00:03:07.450]She and her brother created Halualani & Associates in 2008;
[00:03:11.470]it has served many higher education
[00:03:13.650]and private industry clients since then.
[00:03:15.830]She's a published intercultural communication scholar,
[00:03:18.640]with two published books,
[00:03:19.800]and over 30 academic journal articles and chapters
[00:03:22.940]in prestigious scholarly out lit.
[00:03:26.260]She currently consults
[00:03:27.180]for other higher education institutions, two-year colleges,
[00:03:30.470]four-year public and private universities,
[00:03:32.840]faith-based colleges and universities
[00:03:34.830]on diversity strategy, diversity mapping,
[00:03:37.990]planning and evaluation.
[00:03:39.570]To date, under her leadership, Halualani & Associates
[00:03:41.763]has worked with 50 higher education institutions,
[00:03:44.540]including Indiana University's seven campuses,
[00:03:47.290]and, of course, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:03:51.490]And finally, we have Dr. Daryl G. Smith,
[00:03:54.900]a Senior Research Fellow, and Professor Emerita of Education
[00:03:58.290]and Psychology at the Claremont Graduate University.
[00:04:01.360]Prior to assuming her current faculty position,
[00:04:03.800]she served as a College Administrator in Planning,
[00:04:06.780]Institutional Research and Student Affairs.
[00:04:09.510]Her research has been in the areas
[00:04:10.900]of organizational implications of diversity assessment
[00:04:14.280]and evaluation, leadership governance,
[00:04:17.070]and faculty diversity.
[00:04:18.730]Among other published work, she's the Author,
[00:04:21.890]she's the Author or Co-Author of "Diversity's Promise
[00:04:24.467]"for Higher Education: Making it Work."
[00:04:26.708]And I just have to do this plug right here, because,
[00:04:28.620]I think many of our members of some of our working groups
[00:04:31.120]are very familiar with this book.
[00:04:33.420]She's also the Author of "Building Institutional Capacity
[00:04:36.487]"for Diversity and Inclusion in Medical Education:
[00:04:39.167]"The challenge of Diversity, Alienation,
[00:04:41.247]"or Involvement in the Academy";
[00:04:43.037]"Achieving Faculty Diversity: Debunking the Myths,
[00:04:45.787]"Interrupting the Usual Strategy,
[00:04:47.487]"Usual Successful Strategies for Hiring Diverse Faculty";
[00:04:50.907]"and "Organizational Learning is a Tool for Diversity
[00:04:53.217]"and Institutional Effectiveness."
[00:04:55.260]Please join me in welcoming our distinguished panelists.
[00:04:59.130]Thank you, so much, Dr. Friday.
[00:05:01.980]I have to say that I am just
[00:05:05.020]head-over-heels excited!
[00:05:07.520]It's a bit raining in Lincoln to our panelists, and so,
[00:05:11.720]but there's a ray of sunshine, I tell you, on this screen,
[00:05:14.210]and just beaming from me, because, I can not be
[00:05:17.880]more overjoyed to have our panel of distinguished scholars,
[00:05:22.220]practitioners, and just amazing women leaders
[00:05:25.210]in higher education being a part of this panel.
[00:05:29.150]But also a part of my life, right?
[00:05:30.850]I shared with them, we had a pre-call, and I shared with,
[00:05:35.070]each of them have really been critical
[00:05:38.540]to me being in this role today,
[00:05:41.150]and being in this particular position.
[00:05:42.553]We have Dr. Albert, who has been a long time advisor,
[00:05:46.850]consultant, therapist, 'cause she's a trained counselor
[00:05:50.040]and psychologist, but just has been a number of roles
[00:05:54.170]in my life, and was the person who gave me
[00:05:56.280]my very first diversity role.
[00:05:58.350]And so, if anyone takes issue with how I do diversity,
[00:06:02.160]you can see Dr. Albert after today's, today's panel.
[00:06:06.830]The second person, oh, my goodness!
[00:06:09.190]Rona has been so instrumental, in terms of helping
[00:06:12.170]to shape a lot of the beginning work of this office,
[00:06:15.120]and providing some very first beginnings
[00:06:18.640]of what this work could look like with her work.
[00:06:21.787]She probably even knows you and Albert better than I do,
[00:06:25.160]just in terms of the level of
[00:06:28.820]care and attention that she gives her mapping exercises,
[00:06:31.580]and her assessment, and being able to do this work.
[00:06:33.900]I actually had a chance to engage Rona
[00:06:37.000]prior to this role at another institution.
[00:06:39.450]And so, I am just,
[00:06:41.530]really thrilled that part of her work led
[00:06:43.740]to the structure of this office.
[00:06:45.030]And so, I'm so thrilled to have Rona joining us today.
[00:06:47.860]Oh, and, oh, my goodness, Daryl has been so key.
[00:06:51.950]I met Daryl in a prior role,
[00:06:54.730]prior to starting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:06:57.030]where I had a chance, a previous supervisor who said,
[00:06:59.977]"One of the first books you have to read is this one."
[00:07:02.890]And it was Daryl Smith's book,
[00:07:04.200]and Daryl has helped me tremendously
[00:07:07.460]think about how I organize and frame diversity work
[00:07:10.810]for others, so that they have capacity
[00:07:12.690]to be able to do this work, as well.
[00:07:14.060]And so, thank you, Daryl, for just always
[00:07:17.490]being thoughtful in the way that you approach
[00:07:19.810]these particular issues.
[00:07:21.430]It has certainly added to my ability
[00:07:23.400]to be able to help institutions, and so.
[00:07:26.257]And so, we have a, a phenomenal
[00:07:30.320]session planned for everyone today.
[00:07:31.900]Again, we hope that you do utilize the Q&A,
[00:07:34.740]and please do ask those questions.
[00:07:36.340]We have a set of questions that I want to
[00:07:37.960]be able to ask our panel, and so, we will
[00:07:42.150]absolutely dive right in.
[00:07:43.760]I see that Rona's already getting a few shout-outs early on.
[00:07:46.560]And so, (laughs)
[00:07:47.730]I think, again, it speaks to just the way
[00:07:49.420]that she forms relationships when she's doing this work.
[00:07:53.920]We're in really difficult times, panel.
[00:07:56.590]I think we know this, and often
[00:08:00.100]these times have been described
[00:08:02.490]as sort of this crossroads of a number of crises, right?
[00:08:05.130]I mean, we sorta can see opportunities, but,
[00:08:07.240]we can't, I think, ignore that we have a number
[00:08:09.180]of crises happening right now.
[00:08:10.580]Whether it's the health crisis, in terms of the pandemic,
[00:08:14.333]and the way that it has impacted communities, and in some,
[00:08:17.390]in many cases minoritized and marginalized communities.
[00:08:20.520]I think that has certainly had a impact
[00:08:22.790]on our financial crises, right?
[00:08:24.470]We know that there are businesses,
[00:08:26.010]small businesses, in particular, that are hit hard
[00:08:28.800]by what is happening with the pandemic.
[00:08:30.740]Our institutions have been hit hard
[00:08:32.945]with what's happening with the pandemic.
[00:08:35.160]And then we also realize that
[00:08:38.109]this sort of racial crisis around racial justice
[00:08:41.180]and equity, which is not new to our country,
[00:08:43.810]but something that sort of
[00:08:47.190]resurfaced in a very loud way this summer,
[00:08:50.830]another crisis that we find ourselves.
[00:08:52.990]And so, when we start thinking about that,
[00:08:55.390]all of these crises could certainly intersect, right,
[00:08:57.880]at identities, and especially for Black, Hispanic, Latinx,
[00:09:02.440]indigenous people, other people of color,
[00:09:04.360]other, again, other marginalized or oppressed communities,
[00:09:07.520]that we know that how do we begin to, I guess,
[00:09:10.330]start thinking about it.
[00:09:11.220]So how do we situate inclusive excellence, right?
[00:09:13.110]With all these competing priorities, all of this,
[00:09:15.870]all these crises that are happening,
[00:09:18.710]where do we either situate or rank inclusive excellence,
[00:09:23.150]as we're trying to really consider all of this, and doing,
[00:09:26.950]and doing DEI work in the midst
[00:09:29.530]of all of these challenges, right?
[00:09:31.690]Like, we're in a pandemic!
[00:09:32.610]We are having all of these crises,
[00:09:34.200]where does diversity and inclusion work fit in?
[00:09:37.260]Like, what's the greater priority?
[00:09:38.620]And so, I may want to throw this to
[00:09:42.280]Dr. Smith or Dr. Albert, one of you want to start?
[00:09:46.310]Okay, I think Daryl has passed the baton
[00:09:49.205]to you (laughs) Katrice.
[00:09:51.316]Oh, yeah.
[00:09:52.261]Well, thank you so much, Marco.
[00:09:53.880]Thank you so much, Dr. Barker, for having us,
[00:09:56.200]and I'm so delighted to be on this panel with
[00:09:59.880]Dr. Smith, and Dr. Halualani.
[00:10:02.260]I mean, you've, you've situated a dream team,
[00:10:05.210]so I'm just thrilled to be a part of it.
[00:10:08.770]And you're absolutely right, we're in a,
[00:10:11.610]we're at the apex of a crisis, right?
[00:10:13.960]It's this past due reckoning around race and racism,
[00:10:17.760]and anti-Black hatred, situated in this pandemic,
[00:10:21.620]a global pandemic impacting our minoritized communities,
[00:10:25.100]and really impacting the finances of small businesses,
[00:10:28.690]often women all targeted, you know,
[00:10:31.210]minority-owned businesses.
[00:10:33.850]DE&I work, belonging work, I think
[00:10:37.360]no doubt, should be situated at the very core
[00:10:40.330]of our university structure.
[00:10:42.360]If we're to be creative, and innovative in a crisis, right,
[00:10:47.490]take this as an opportunity, it should be woven
[00:10:50.300]at the very core.
[00:10:51.940]Foundations and corporate donors
[00:10:55.150]are putting a lot of resources into us doing
[00:10:58.140]the smart thing, right?
[00:10:59.860]So we need to be thoughtful about how we not only support
[00:11:05.290]the people, propelling people on our university campuses,
[00:11:08.750]but how do we hire for diverse top talent?
[00:11:12.010]How are we situating our
[00:11:14.500]DE&I work, related to climate and culture,
[00:11:18.200]now that we're distanced?
[00:11:20.090]Right?
[00:11:20.923]DE&I work is relational.
[00:11:23.460]But we're now having to be, you know, socially distanced,
[00:11:27.960]and distanced in ways where we're having
[00:11:29.790]to do things by Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
[00:11:33.200]It is a health crisis!
[00:11:34.780]But how do we focus in on health and wellness,
[00:11:37.590]especially, mental health, and emotional health and wellness
[00:11:41.870]during this, you know, really challenging time
[00:11:45.580]for our minoritized communities?
[00:11:47.620]I think
[00:11:48.640]the value of
[00:11:50.640]weaving DE&I right at the center, and right at the core
[00:11:54.950]suggests to us who we want to be.
[00:11:57.230]Right? That's gonna be the answer to the question,
[00:11:59.790]who we want to be.
[00:12:02.160]The value system, the value proposition for Nebraska
[00:12:06.620]is that you're situated at the table
[00:12:08.840]where decisions are being made
[00:12:10.670]for the very first time, right?
[00:12:12.327]And our role, Chief Diversity Officer,
[00:12:15.460]Vice President for Inclusion and Inclusive Excellence
[00:12:19.240]is situated at a table where all of these decisions
[00:12:22.810]are being made.
[00:12:24.580]I cannot implore universities
[00:12:27.860]more right now than to have, you know,
[00:12:30.980]this critical work around inclusive excellence
[00:12:33.300]be at the table, where all decisions are being made.
[00:12:36.490]Absolutely, Daryl?
[00:12:38.510]Yes.
[00:12:41.200]I'm gonna play a role of being a challenger, if I might,
[00:12:44.330]as we go forward, because, I do think
[00:12:46.500]this is a challenging moment, and an opportunity moment.
[00:12:49.020]So I'm...
[00:12:50.210]LeBron James was asked, what he felt about this moment
[00:12:52.880]with a racial injustice that was now becoming
[00:12:55.960]much more owned by more people?
[00:12:57.920]He said, "He was caught between hope and history."
[00:13:00.800]So I'm caught between hope and history on this.
[00:13:04.490]Over the last decades, on these issues of diversity,
[00:13:07.060]equity and inclusion, we've had crises, we have response,
[00:13:10.460]and then we move on.
[00:13:11.960]And in the, in the face of all of these crises
[00:13:15.210]it's very easy to think, well, where is this ranked?
[00:13:18.620]And what I would say to you is that,
[00:13:22.010]if our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,
[00:13:24.620]our laundry list of programs and efforts on the backs
[00:13:28.690]of the same few people who've been doing this,
[00:13:30.430]some of them for decades, we don't have much hope.
[00:13:35.366]So the framing for me is the issue,
[00:13:37.010]and I want to keep pushing on that in our panel today.
[00:13:39.640]For me, the crises have just
[00:13:42.700]exploded all the deep structural inequities
[00:13:45.610]that have long existed in our society,
[00:13:47.930]in the justice system, economic inequities,
[00:13:50.300]wellbeing, and in education.
[00:13:51.850]And, you know, as we're relying on Zoom,
[00:13:54.880]I looked on the census, and about 20% of the people
[00:13:57.280]in Nebraska don't have internet access.
[00:13:59.020]Well, look at the inequities that exist in our systems,
[00:14:02.430]that we can't assume are there for everybody.
[00:14:05.270]So the reality, I think, is building DEI work
[00:14:08.440]has to be framed as building capacity
[00:14:10.810]as an imperative for excellence,
[00:14:12.500]not just as an imperative for interpersonal stuff,
[00:14:16.070]but as an imperative for excellence for everyone,
[00:14:19.510]for a pluralistic society that works.
[00:14:22.710]There are not many examples of pluralistic societies
[00:14:24.760]that work around the world.
[00:14:25.940]I think we want to be one of them.
[00:14:27.520]And this means embedding this work.
[00:14:29.380]If this work is an add-on work, on the backs of the few,
[00:14:32.570]and believe me, in Nebraska, it's the few,
[00:14:37.200]it will not be the kind of systemic change
[00:14:39.520]that are being demanded now.
[00:14:40.680]And I just want to use a quick parallel to technology.
[00:14:44.350]When we understood that decades ago that technology
[00:14:47.050]was an imperative in our changing society,
[00:14:49.010]we didn't wait 'til everybody loved it.
[00:14:51.030]We didn't wait 'til everybody was happy
[00:14:52.810]to see their latest upgrade in their system.
[00:14:55.450]It was not optional.
[00:14:57.670]And we set about the question of, how do we build capacity?
[00:15:01.890]And senior information officers' roles were created
[00:15:05.860]not to do all things technology,
[00:15:09.270]but to help capacity, to help embed this in teaching,
[00:15:13.510]and learning, and research.
[00:15:15.440]In the content of the curriculum, technology
[00:15:18.030]has transformed virtually every core effort we do.
[00:15:22.310]And if it were not for that decades of work,
[00:15:24.500]just as for the decades of ethnic studies, for example,
[00:15:27.090]and gender studies, and all the work that's been done,
[00:15:30.480]we wouldn't be where we are today, we wouldn't have Zoom.
[00:15:33.620]I can't even imagine living through
[00:15:34.890]this pandemic without Zoom.
[00:15:38.320]The key there was, technology was not optional.
[00:15:42.190]But we went about helping people learn.
[00:15:44.480]And the senior information officers were there
[00:15:46.440]to help people learn things that they didn't
[00:15:49.330]have knowledge of.
[00:15:51.170]And this has continued for decades.
[00:15:52.960]We build capacity in our systems, our policies,
[00:15:56.020]but also in our curriculum, and in our people.
[00:15:58.980]So I just want to say that, if we can do that,
[00:16:01.700]if we understand this as an imperative for excellence,
[00:16:04.550]just as we now understand that technology
[00:16:06.680]is an imperative for surviving this pandemic,
[00:16:10.330]it will not be optional, and won't fall
[00:16:12.050]to the bottom of some list.
[00:16:14.670]Yeah, that's really, really powerful.
[00:16:17.210]As I think about, you know, the sorta two keywords that you
[00:16:21.590]address, Daryl, around being an imperative,
[00:16:24.940]being embedded, in a way.
[00:16:26.940]And so, speaking of being embedded,
[00:16:28.750]so, Rona, you were here a few years ago.
[00:16:32.290]Hmm-mmm. To help us think about
[00:16:34.710]how diversity and inclusion is embedded, or not,
[00:16:37.546](chuckles) into the institution, and looking at
[00:16:40.430]all different facets of the institution.
[00:16:42.630]And so, I suspect that I, and along with many
[00:16:45.460]of the members of our community, are very curious on
[00:16:49.900]what progress would look like, right?
[00:16:52.480]If we were really being thoughtful and intentional about
[00:16:56.840]what you found, 'cause, again, you learned a lot about us
[00:17:00.270]during that time, what progress would look like?
[00:17:04.750]Maybe a sneak peek of where you have observed progress
[00:17:09.260]for our university, or where we may still be lagging behind?
[00:17:12.670]And so, inquiring minds wants, wants to know
[00:17:16.530]how we're doing, and
[00:17:19.450]just a bit more about the, the mapping?
[00:17:22.890]Okay.
[00:17:23.723]Can you all hear me? Yes?
[00:17:25.468]Yes. Well,
[00:17:26.720]Dr. Barker, and Dr. Albert, and Dr. Smith,
[00:17:29.570]and your entire team, I'm just thrilled to be here.
[00:17:32.350]I want to touch on
[00:17:34.500]Daryl's comments a little bit later in this.
[00:17:38.270]The mere fact that you are here,
[00:17:40.673](person chuckles)
[00:17:41.940]Dr. Barker, and your team,
[00:17:44.080]what I refer to as a diversity infrastructure,
[00:17:46.560]which I think also needs to be built out even more,
[00:17:50.820]to do the work that it takes.
[00:17:52.280]I'll get to that later.
[00:17:54.560]I was last at University of Nebraska-Lincoln...
[00:17:57.270]Shout-out to Lance Perez,
[00:17:59.920]Bill Nunez, and Crystal, who were my liaisons.
[00:18:03.840]To the UNL community, it's great to be back.
[00:18:06.250]2017
[00:18:08.030]I believe I mapped
[00:18:10.010]your diversity efforts in curricula from 2011 through 2016,
[00:18:14.610]so about a five-year retrospective.
[00:18:16.960]And I went back and looked at kind of what I,
[00:18:19.340]you know, I have this massive spreadsheet,
[00:18:21.070]and I have all of my notions, and I looked back
[00:18:24.210]at where you all were.
[00:18:26.380]And my sense back then was, you were a campus
[00:18:29.460]that was definitely trying to
[00:18:33.040]figure out where you were.
[00:18:34.760]I think in many ways you knew, right?
[00:18:37.180]You did not have a diversity leader at the helm
[00:18:39.950]at that time, which I, I was pushing on.
[00:18:44.230]And I'm not even sure if you knew exactly where
[00:18:47.650]you all were, with regard to diversity strategy,
[00:18:50.350]in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion.
[00:18:53.230]You did have a lot of efforts, a lotta energy,
[00:18:58.421]a lot of activities.
[00:18:59.630]And you have those people that I refer to
[00:19:02.130]as the superheroes.
[00:19:03.780]Whether it was in OASIS.
[00:19:05.610]Whether it was in all of the different colleges,
[00:19:08.240]there were the superheroes.
[00:19:11.009]As I listened to this morning...
[00:19:13.070]And thank you.
[00:19:14.200]Just the slides, the videos, all of the participation
[00:19:16.930]that that took, I was blown away by several things.
[00:19:20.670]I was blown away by the fact that there is
[00:19:23.660]a diversity infrastructure.
[00:19:25.870]There appears to be
[00:19:28.520]the beginning stages of alignment.
[00:19:30.870]And what I mean by alignment, is that
[00:19:34.120]you all are pointing your sails in the same direction,
[00:19:37.190]to some extent.
[00:19:38.770]There's capacity, but there's also alignment,
[00:19:41.040]and those two really are important together.
[00:19:44.190]I love the fact that
[00:19:46.570]the data, I mean, Daryl, (claps) and Dr. Albert,
[00:19:49.570]you also talk about data, and how important that is.
[00:19:51.940]And so, that, for me...
[00:19:53.200]And not being afraid to engage the data!
[00:19:56.230]And when I was there in 2017,
[00:19:58.840]you weren't afraid back then.
[00:20:00.520]You actually said, "We want to look at ourselves amongst,
[00:20:02.957]"amid the peers."
[00:20:04.267]"We want to see where we are, Rona, because, we know
[00:20:07.217]"we could be a lot better."
[00:20:10.280]I think I was struck by all of those different notions, and
[00:20:15.670]N-25?
[00:20:17.240]Your new, your strategic plan,
[00:20:19.820]2025.
[00:20:22.373]UNL 2025, I think is, is really important.
[00:20:25.110]I know that you have a key goal related to DEI,
[00:20:29.060]and it's a strategic framework type of goal
[00:20:31.780]that allows you to
[00:20:33.920]let divisions and programs inhabit that
[00:20:37.110]in the way that they do, which I love.
[00:20:40.040]But, also, being able to steer in the same direction.
[00:20:43.150]So I want to affirm you, and I want to affirm that!
[00:20:47.410]And then I want to say next, you're gonna be like,
[00:20:49.027]"There's Rona, again."
[00:20:50.540]I want you to think of the long game, okay?
[00:20:53.160]And the long game, for me, is you can't stop now!
[00:20:56.504](laughs)
[00:20:57.980]I'm amazed that Dr. Barker and his team,
[00:21:00.590]I'm amazed you're able to do all of the relational work,
[00:21:04.020]and all, everything that you do with where you are.
[00:21:07.030]And so, that diversity infrastructure,
[00:21:09.790]and that relational work that takes place,
[00:21:12.320]it takes time, it takes people.
[00:21:16.000]Remember, chief diversity officers and diversity leaders
[00:21:19.600]have a very high burnout rate.
[00:21:21.890]And so, for me, I want to make sure that Dr. Barker
[00:21:25.390]and his entire team is, has the infrastructure,
[00:21:28.670]has that capacity, with regard to that.
[00:21:31.300]And I would also say this,
[00:21:35.480]keeping the eye on alignment,
[00:21:38.450]keeping the eye on impact.
[00:21:40.060]And some people are like, "What do you mean by impact?
[00:21:41.627]"Is it just the numbers, and the assessment outcomes?"
[00:21:44.140]Yes, but you can also have process-based outcomes.
[00:21:47.370]You can also have...are the conversations
[00:21:49.650]on your campus changing around race,
[00:21:52.930]around non-binary identities?
[00:21:55.020]I mean, even something like that is thinking about impact.
[00:21:59.540]In your own office, you're looking at impact, as well,
[00:22:01.860]Dr. Barker, and as well as other entities at your unit.
[00:22:04.980]But, actually, having
[00:22:07.490]diversity impact professionals, having a collaborative
[00:22:10.250]that looks at that.
[00:22:11.560]Penn State University has a, a large diversity impact team.
[00:22:15.940]And they're all connected to different colleges,
[00:22:18.870]and different outfits, different fiscal units,
[00:22:21.450]and everything, and it's powerful!
[00:22:25.040]You're your own unique culture.
[00:22:26.830]And then, I guess the last thing I would say,
[00:22:28.930]so I don't take up much time, is
[00:22:31.840]I really want to emphasize the curriculum.
[00:22:34.970]I'm sorry, I have to go there.
[00:22:37.030]And I refer to that as the diversity learning architecture
[00:22:40.760]of your institution.
[00:22:42.120]And what I mean by that is, you'll see, if you ever
[00:22:45.690]go back and, (laughs) I want to have some light reading
[00:22:49.020]on the diversity mapping report, the last half of it
[00:22:51.910]was a really deep-dive on your curriculum.
[00:22:54.750]Some wonderful, wonderful undergraduate, graduate,
[00:22:57.860]and professional courses.
[00:22:58.790]I mean, your faculty and departments just have fascinating
[00:23:03.680]courses, and curricular designs.
[00:23:05.550]And my question back to UNL is,
[00:23:08.620]even without that information, what is it
[00:23:10.830]that you want students to know, as they enter UNL?
[00:23:15.710]And what, how do you want to life-stage that process
[00:23:19.120]of engagement around knowledge of diversity,
[00:23:21.570]equity and inclusion?
[00:23:22.480]We often think DEI is a demographic, it's the hiring rates.
[00:23:26.910]For me, it's a knowledge domain.
[00:23:28.870]And it's a special knowledge domain, because,
[00:23:31.110]these may be the last, not the last moments,
[00:23:33.360]but some of the most opportune moments for us in higher ed
[00:23:36.730]to have these conversations.
[00:23:38.940]And then, the last thing for me is,
[00:23:41.570]I understand that we live in a world where we want
[00:23:43.530]to see peers, and that's very important in competition.
[00:23:47.270]But I also think, you know,
[00:23:51.090]I would never, if I'm thinking of peer-based,
[00:23:54.240]peers-based on cooking, (laughs)
[00:23:57.160]they would never have me in the mix
[00:23:59.430]as some kind of standard of excellence to go from.
[00:24:02.447](laughs) Right?
[00:24:03.340]But they'd have my mother.
[00:24:04.980]And they'd have my father, and whatnot.
[00:24:06.930]So I also think that UNL, it's important
[00:24:08.920]to do peer competition.
[00:24:10.250]But I also think it's important for you to create goals
[00:24:12.530]of excellence for yourself.
[00:24:14.810]What does that mean for you?
[00:24:16.550]And, "Oh, we're, you know, we are in line with Indiana,
[00:24:19.887]"we're in line with Iowa."
[00:24:21.850]But, UNL, you have a unique configuration,
[00:24:24.820]especially, with regard to first peoples,
[00:24:26.680]especially, where you are in the nation.
[00:24:28.930]And so I want, I want you to think about that
[00:24:31.500]for the long game.
[00:24:32.680]So I'll just, I'll leave it there, Dr. Barker, so I can...
[00:24:35.640]Yeah, no, that's really helpful, Rona.
[00:24:38.660]First, I do want to do a shout-out to, yes,
[00:24:40.540]my amazing leadership team of Jerry, Dr. Nkenge Friday,
[00:24:44.750]and Dr. Gwen Combs, who's doing our faculty diversity work,
[00:24:47.450]Charlie Foster, with OASIS, doing inclusive excellence,
[00:24:49.917]Dr. Karen Kassebaum, who I referenced in our earlier session
[00:24:53.730]that being able to have the right infrastructure
[00:24:56.840]has made a difference.
[00:24:58.100]We're certainly on our way, right?
[00:25:00.140]I think we just, I think we still have some work to do,
[00:25:02.100]in terms of having the
[00:25:04.530]capacity to be able to really support our campus,
[00:25:08.660]who's been very excited behind this work.
[00:25:11.077]And there are so many people trying to do work.
[00:25:13.410]Again, there are so many things happening,
[00:25:15.300]that we're just trying to keep up,
[00:25:16.690]and be as supportive, as possible, so I appreciate that.
[00:25:19.910]You mentioned something, so I wanna maybe
[00:25:22.570]ask Daryl a follow-up question, right?
[00:25:24.520]So you mentioned, Rona, about our N2025,
[00:25:28.370]this notion about setting goals of excellence,
[00:25:30.870]and what that looks like for us, and so,
[00:25:33.100]we have started to do that with our N2025.
[00:25:36.980]We've couched all of our goals around this ideal
[00:25:40.580]about every interaction, every person, every interaction,
[00:25:43.870]it matters to Nebraskans, it's really core to who we are.
[00:25:47.470]Our people are really core to who we are.
[00:25:49.780]And so, Daryl, in your book, you talk a lot about
[00:25:54.350]this ideal about really, again,
[00:25:56.560]embedding inclusive excellence,
[00:25:58.920]making sure that it is woven throughout
[00:26:01.200]every single thing that you do.
[00:26:04.320]As we are on our quest to ensure that every person,
[00:26:07.493](chuckles) and every interaction matters,
[00:26:11.490]I guess, your thoughts about what that looks like?
[00:26:13.960]So if we are really, truly living that goal
[00:26:16.890]that every interaction matters,
[00:26:18.300]what does that look like for us?
[00:26:19.840]Well, and I've thought a great deal about that,
[00:26:21.540]because, I think at one level I absolutely agree.
[00:26:24.840]And on another level, it has to, we have to be careful
[00:26:27.610]how we interpret it.
[00:26:30.570]Inclusive excellence, in its tradition,
[00:26:32.740]has not just been about interpersonal relations,
[00:26:35.730]but it's clear that people need to feel that they matter.
[00:26:39.460]As I think about that in institutions now,
[00:26:42.010]and I think about it, particularly, in terms of retention,
[00:26:44.760]faculty retention, for example,
[00:26:46.220]which is an issue in many places,
[00:26:48.100]that every interaction does matter.
[00:26:50.010]And so, one of the questions I would ask is,
[00:26:53.210]do faculty colleagues who bring diversity feel they matter?
[00:26:57.060]Do they feel their research matters?
[00:26:59.640]Do staff feel they matter, and that their work matters?
[00:27:03.710]Do frontline workers, particularly, in this moment in time,
[00:27:07.080]who often bring
[00:27:09.350]race, ethnic, class, gender
[00:27:12.830]demographic to them, do they feel they matter?
[00:27:16.030]Or, particularly, in the case
[00:27:17.690]of underrepresented populations, and racial minorities,
[00:27:20.060]particularly, in a state like Nebraska,
[00:27:22.310]or are they there to represent, to be the token,
[00:27:24.940]to represent all things African American,
[00:27:28.830]and not what they bring through their research,
[00:27:31.500]and their work.
[00:27:32.770]I think the issue of every interaction matters
[00:27:35.260]is critically important.
[00:27:36.490]People need to feel that they belong, and they matter.
[00:27:41.360]But there's much more to that in your strategic plan.
[00:27:44.390]I want to push on that, and it aligns well
[00:27:46.250]with what Rona just said.
[00:27:48.950]You're talking about preparing leaders,
[00:27:51.700]in research, solving complex problems,
[00:27:55.640]leaders in the community.
[00:27:57.690]So the question becomes, are you preparing everybody
[00:28:02.260]to understand what a pluralistic,
[00:28:03.880]what leadership in a pluralistic society means?
[00:28:06.080]Are you preparing people to understand
[00:28:07.910]the complexity of research?
[00:28:10.070]And I played with a little bit of your land grant.
[00:28:12.380]I think it's important here to think about
[00:28:15.050]the land grant mission.
[00:28:17.210]I'm a Cornell graduate, so I had some deep experience
[00:28:19.770]with that, it was new to me as a New Yorker.
[00:28:25.153]And there are a couple of things.
[00:28:26.510]One is, how did land grants happen?
[00:28:28.870]The Homestead Acts, whose land, all of that history
[00:28:32.150]is very important to acknowledge.
[00:28:34.610]It is also true that land grant institutions
[00:28:37.720]fundamentally questions measures of excellence
[00:28:40.690]that have been historically true in higher education.
[00:28:43.840]And in that regard, land grant institutions challenged
[00:28:46.980]the notion that application was in contradiction
[00:28:50.300]to scholarship.
[00:28:52.390]Land grant institutions focused on agriculture,
[00:28:56.180]applied arts, engineering, you founded ecology.
[00:29:01.760]So issues of healthcare, transportation,
[00:29:05.360]technology, water.
[00:29:07.800]One of the pictures in the video showed a farm.
[00:29:11.070]That's what land grant institutions were about
[00:29:13.400]when they were founded, not in contradiction
[00:29:15.830]to traditional academic, but really converted the notion
[00:29:18.660]of what good scholarship is.
[00:29:20.650]That's what diversity is, and our history of preparing,
[00:29:23.440]assuming that diversity isn't somehow
[00:29:25.390]a contradiction to excellence.
[00:29:27.180]What I would say to you, is that
[00:29:29.700]it's not just about the people,
[00:29:31.300]it's about the knowledge we create, and that all,
[00:29:34.650]every student, every graduate student in their curriculum,
[00:29:37.780]in their scholarly work, not just in the pedagogy,
[00:29:40.640]but in the content.
[00:29:42.010]What we are now agreeing to, is that good science,
[00:29:46.140]good healthcare requires dealing with
[00:29:48.750]the complexity of identities, and the human being.
[00:29:51.490]We were not doing good science
[00:29:53.520]when we didn't disaggregate the impact of drugs
[00:29:56.390]on different populations of people.
[00:29:59.600]Facial recognition software that was launched
[00:30:03.440]and didn't recognize Black faces
[00:30:06.390]is not good technology.
[00:30:09.950]I can give you all kinds of...when seatbelts were designed,
[00:30:12.580]and they killed children and small people,
[00:30:14.740]not good engineering design.
[00:30:16.290]So what I want to say is, this is about excellence,
[00:30:19.080]and land grant institutions, fundamentally,
[00:30:21.250]in the beginning, challenged certain cores of that,
[00:30:23.430]what mattered, what knowledge mattered.
[00:30:26.640]Part of the issue here for me is in your strategic plan.
[00:30:30.180]It's...yes, the interactions matter,
[00:30:32.640]in terms of interpersonal.
[00:30:34.200]But it goes deeply in terms of the assumptions
[00:30:36.700]about excellence, the knowledge that is taught,
[00:30:39.410]not only how it's taught, and also the experience
[00:30:42.650]of all your students, and feeling comfortable engaging
[00:30:45.410]the complexity of identities,
[00:30:48.030]and the embedded structural barriers
[00:30:49.560]that they're gonna need to understand as they move
[00:30:52.770]into every industry.
[00:30:53.960]Every industry now, in the face of crisis,
[00:30:55.980]is doing the self-reflection.
[00:30:58.110]And people are walking around saying, "I didn't know."
[00:31:01.430]Well, all those people were educated in our institutions.
[00:31:04.940]The Central Park woman who called the police
[00:31:07.110]on a birdwatcher was
[00:31:09.480]significantly educated in pretty elite places,
[00:31:13.020]and was not prepared to really think about,
[00:31:15.910]and have knowledge about the embedded biases
[00:31:19.030]that exist in our society, and the structural inequities,
[00:31:21.650]and how excellence can't be done in any of these industries,
[00:31:25.010]if you don't think about diversity.
[00:31:26.720]And finally, that you need diversity around your table,
[00:31:29.090]and you need people who are trust,
[00:31:31.210]who trust this environment is created, so people can speak.
[00:31:35.370]And every institution I've been at,
[00:31:38.770]people may be seeing things.
[00:31:40.000]The question is, are they empowered to speak?
[00:31:43.630]I was pleased by your chancellor's opening remarks,
[00:31:45.920]because, I think he set a stage very much in terms
[00:31:48.320]of the anti-racism work, that's very important.
[00:31:50.940]But we should not, in 2020, be walking around going,
[00:31:53.417]"I didn't know."
[00:31:55.090]I never learned about the Tulsa massacres.
[00:31:57.570]Why are we just learning about that now?
[00:32:00.840]So, that's my challenge.
[00:32:03.004]Yeah. Keep moving.
[00:32:05.004]Yes, thank you, thank you.
[00:32:06.380]Dr. Albert?
[00:32:07.900]So, Dr. Barker, I think Dr. Smith is just so elegant
[00:32:12.000]and on point with, with the notion that
[00:32:15.970]land grants, and land grant, the notion of a land grant,
[00:32:20.430]where academics is not in contradiction of practice.
[00:32:25.330]Dr. Barker and I both were at LSU, and
[00:32:28.310]the only city where there's a,
[00:32:30.790]a predominantly white institution,
[00:32:33.210]and a historically black institution,
[00:32:35.760]with a land grant at LSU and Southern University,
[00:32:38.330]so, we clearly know this!
[00:32:41.030]I saw in the chat, in the Q&A box that someone says,
[00:32:44.667]"Well, we're talking so much about curriculum
[00:32:47.037]"and academics, and we want to be able to bring in,
[00:32:50.857]"and we then student affairs and student life."
[00:32:53.670]And I think Dr. Smith just mentioned it, right?
[00:32:56.740]We've got to be able to build global leaders,
[00:33:00.140]and it's, and it's through,
[00:33:01.530]it's woven throughout our students' entire
[00:33:05.570]holistic experience during their, their university time.
[00:33:10.940]And it's through the student life perspective that,
[00:33:14.090]you know, the student, the woman
[00:33:15.860]who was significantly educated, but still called
[00:33:20.190]the police on a black birdwatcher
[00:33:23.150]would have gotten that kind of experience
[00:33:25.770]through her student life experience, right?
[00:33:28.090]Because, we grow global leaders, and our student
[00:33:32.370]experiences of leadership development,
[00:33:35.030]when they are serving on committees, when they are,
[00:33:37.810]they're being coached by advisors
[00:33:40.980]who will help them think through, you know,
[00:33:43.930]how do I really interact in a club when I'm the president,
[00:33:47.490]but I have a dilemma, you know, a diversity dilemma
[00:33:51.130]going on in my club?
[00:33:53.090]I think, you know, Dr. Smith, you're spot on
[00:33:55.660]that it's the infrastructure,
[00:33:57.120]but it's woven throughout the student's
[00:34:00.570]entire holistic experience, not just in the classroom,
[00:34:04.800]but in their student affairs experience, as well.
[00:34:08.100]Well, and the research on students, student success,
[00:34:12.752]and you pointed out you've got some work to do,
[00:34:14.680]the old research, and this is what bad research was,
[00:34:17.160]we've used background characteristics to predict success,
[00:34:19.250]and then we said, zip code predicts success.
[00:34:21.870]Well, what we know is, the experience in college
[00:34:25.550]facilitates success and interrupts.
[00:34:27.820]And a culture of success, which has been the phrase used
[00:34:30.560]for student success and student affairs, is a culture
[00:34:33.760]that keeps an eye out.
[00:34:35.080]And so, it's not just the classroom.
[00:34:37.040]It's the dining hall worker who notices
[00:34:39.730]that the student isn't eating.
[00:34:41.180]It's the grounds person in California.
[00:34:43.170]It's often a grounds person who will note
[00:34:44.980]that a student's in trouble.
[00:34:46.040]It's the financial aid person, it's the dean of students,
[00:34:48.520]there's a culture that says you will succeed.
[00:34:50.570]And what we're learning is, actually, we have to create
[00:34:52.470]that same culture of success for staff development,
[00:34:55.110]and faculty success.
[00:34:56.690]So, yes, it's a, these, this is a holistic
[00:35:01.030]way.
[00:35:01.863]I just want people to understand that the imperative
[00:35:04.410]for this also is about good knowledge.
[00:35:06.480]Hmm-mmm. Yeah.
[00:35:08.070]That gives a kind of scholarly, we are universities, and
[00:35:13.800]part of that is the knowledge.
[00:35:15.830]And why we know that faculty diversity is important,
[00:35:17.733]it's just not so people's feel supported by someone
[00:35:20.550]who looks like them, but is actually,
[00:35:22.460]we've got a lot of students at the University of Nebraska
[00:35:24.890]who've never experienced a Black physicist.
[00:35:27.100]Hmm-mmm. Or a Black sociologist.
[00:35:29.600]But we also know that diverse faculty
[00:35:31.510]bring diverse questions to the research.
[00:35:34.200]And that's why we have research that's engaged
[00:35:36.440]these issues now, and it's because of ethnic studies,
[00:35:38.540]women's studies, LGTBQ studies.
[00:35:40.890]If we didn't have that, we wouldn't even have
[00:35:42.870]the foundation for the, for the knowledge.
[00:35:44.540]So, yes, absolutely, I'm an old student affairs person,
[00:35:46.920]I was an old dean of students.
[00:35:48.432](person laughs)
[00:35:49.265]Yeah.
[00:35:50.113](person laughs)
[00:35:50.946]No, this is all really great.
[00:35:51.779]Yeah, Rona, you want to add? I would add to that,
[00:35:55.210]when I was fortunate enough to,
[00:35:57.130]to be there in 2017 and do the mapping,
[00:36:00.350]and student affairs, you know, for me,
[00:36:02.740]is the lifeblood of it all.
[00:36:05.490]All of the 52 campuses I go to, student affairs has a,
[00:36:08.970]a very clear understanding of what DEI means
[00:36:13.870]for the student.
[00:36:14.703]And I always refer to structures of belonging,
[00:36:17.810]because, structures of belonging include curricula,
[00:36:20.220]and co-curricula.
[00:36:21.500]I was at a predominantly White institution myself,
[00:36:23.610]as a undergraduate student, and the student organizations,
[00:36:27.050]and we had like an identity space, but it wasn't formal,
[00:36:30.800]those were my lifesavers, those were my lifelines.
[00:36:33.560]So I, in the mapping, when I talk about curriculum,
[00:36:36.010]I said, "There's some, there's some opportunities
[00:36:38.547]"to connect co-curricular, amazing co-curricular events
[00:36:43.517]"and programs to courses."
[00:36:46.280]Why are we not connecting them
[00:36:47.620]to shared learning outcomes and goals?
[00:36:49.850]Why aren't we connecting them to assignments,
[00:36:51.910]where we can connect, "Look at this event you did,
[00:36:54.877]"and look at the learning that came out of it!"
[00:36:57.230]And so, I just think that UNL has this opportunity
[00:37:01.950]to really...
[00:37:02.783]And you've got, you've got a whole bunch
[00:37:05.110]of that mapping work.
[00:37:06.120]And Marco, I can send you all of the,
[00:37:08.510]I think I looked at every course on your catalog.
[00:37:12.860]Amazing courses!
[00:37:14.007]And I can send you my thing, and it says, look,
[00:37:16.450]these are some wonderful things.
[00:37:18.110]It's not just curricular, it's apple,
[00:37:20.160]absolutely co-curricular, as well.
[00:37:22.580]Yeah, really quickly, Daryl, so I know
[00:37:24.140]we have some questions that people,
[00:37:25.610]I know we're getting warmed up.
[00:37:27.732]Great.
[00:37:28.565]Yes, go ahead, Daryl. Let me just say that,
[00:37:31.090]growing up in a time where everything was optional,
[00:37:33.510]I've now taken a different view
[00:37:34.930]of everything being optional.
[00:37:36.790]You have wonderful lectures on your campus,
[00:37:39.020]speaking, coming in.
[00:37:41.020]And when you look at the audience,
[00:37:43.480]you go, "It's the same people."
[00:37:46.610]There is an opportunity, and I've seen campuses do this,
[00:37:49.630]where, as part of a course in sociology, or history,
[00:37:53.090]a regular course, there's an optional list
[00:37:55.840]of people coming to campus, and you have to go
[00:37:57.440]to a certain number of 'em, and the audience changes.
[00:37:59.840]And I think that's an opportunity to make use of,
[00:38:02.120]and not just add on top of, and the same people going
[00:38:05.060]to the same events, number one.
[00:38:06.650]And the other is, that we've learned a great deal
[00:38:08.530]from special purpose institutions, women's college,
[00:38:11.590]historically Black institutions, and tribal institutions
[00:38:14.500]about what an environment looks like
[00:38:16.020]that facilitates success.
[00:38:18.850]I just want to give a shout-out to those kind
[00:38:20.470]of special purpose, I think of Xavier University
[00:38:23.120]in Louisiana, without whom we would not have
[00:38:26.010]the number of Black doctors and pharmacists we do.
[00:38:29.700]Yeah, absolutely.
[00:38:30.880]And I think all of these comments really speak to,
[00:38:32.730]and it's one of the first lessons that,
[00:38:35.230]that Dr. Albert taught me, when I started working for her,
[00:38:37.980]it was like the power of place, right?
[00:38:39.270]So the power of place in history and culture,
[00:38:42.320]and how all of that is so
[00:38:45.170]interwoven together, in terms of thinking about
[00:38:48.160]how you do this work.
[00:38:49.150]We wanted to go through several questions that we have.
[00:38:52.340]Jerri, or Dr. Friday, do we have a question from?
[00:38:55.960]Yes, our first question
[00:38:58.230]is directed at Dr. Smith.
[00:39:00.370]You mentioned that there is a historical series of crisis.
[00:39:04.610]How do we begin to break this problem?
[00:39:11.630]So the historical, the question is sort of
[00:39:13.870]we've been through this before,
[00:39:15.760]and how do we move forward?
[00:39:18.620]Everything I've studied now, both in terms
[00:39:20.590]of organizational change, and looking at the conditions
[00:39:23.180]under which change occurs, it's when it's an imperative.
[00:39:26.080]And just look at technology now, this is not optional.
[00:39:29.360]And the way we break these crises,
[00:39:31.550]and just this continual...and we've made progress,
[00:39:33.730]so it's not that no progress has been made,
[00:39:36.010]but it's much slower than is healthy
[00:39:37.960]for any healthy democracy.
[00:39:40.848]For me, the issue is, is this framed as an imperative,
[00:39:43.790]not optional?
[00:39:46.210]Is scholarship...the NSF now requires
[00:39:48.520]this embedded in scholarship.
[00:39:50.130]The advanced grants, and the NSF, for a long time
[00:39:53.150]were facilitating the success of White women.
[00:39:56.610]Finally, decided that maybe intersectionality was relevant,
[00:39:59.420]and they weren't seeing women of color in science.
[00:40:01.600]This has to be an imperative, because, all of us
[00:40:04.940]don't add things to an already crazy list voluntarily.
[00:40:09.370]And so, the way we break this, is making sure
[00:40:12.080]that we understand it's not optional,
[00:40:13.810]and then we help people build capacity.
[00:40:17.290]This is about learning.
[00:40:18.540]This isn't about you're either good or bad.
[00:40:21.080]And we have to do it at every level of our institution
[00:40:24.060]in a context of support and learning.
[00:40:26.750]One of the challenges we have now with social media,
[00:40:28.990]I think there's a great constraint on making mistakes.
[00:40:32.690]Well, healthy learning comes, because you can make mistakes,
[00:40:35.500]so we have to figure out how to navigate that.
[00:40:38.150]And I think in a...
[00:40:39.620]I don't know whether Nebraska is known as a culture of nice,
[00:40:41.900]there are states that do, but, Marco, you suggested
[00:40:44.890]that maybe there is.
[00:40:46.150]In this culture of nice, what are the conditions
[00:40:48.040]and the ground rules we set for talking to each other,
[00:40:50.790]pointing out mistakes?
[00:40:53.429]You know, the gender binary was something
[00:40:54.830]we assumed is true, and now we've had to learn,
[00:40:57.150]and pronouns, some people still don't understand.
[00:40:59.040]Are there places where people can ask
[00:41:00.670]what they think of as stupid questions, and get answers?
[00:41:03.220]But it has to be an imperative.
[00:41:04.690]If it's optional...
[00:41:08.420]Look, I know I should exercise more than I do.
[00:41:11.300]I could give you the seminar on it.
[00:41:13.670]And it's hard, and I know it can't be optional.
[00:41:16.660]That, to me, is the fundamental core of this,
[00:41:18.450]and it has to be mission centered for excellence.
[00:41:23.510]Thank you.
[00:41:24.620]Do we have another question, Jerri?
[00:41:27.060]Yes, we do have another question.
[00:41:29.710]This presentation has been very curriculum
[00:41:32.350]and academic focused.
[00:41:34.770]Where does the student affairs branch
[00:41:37.810]fit into this infrastructure?
[00:41:42.960]So I think we've
[00:41:44.870]addressed it a little early on, in terms of talking about,
[00:41:48.040]again, and emphasizing that there are
[00:41:50.060]a number of places, right?
[00:41:51.080]So thinking about, again, from curriculum, so the sort of,
[00:41:53.660]the connection between curriculum
[00:41:55.100]and co-curricular experiences, but also thinking about
[00:41:59.270]overall student learning outcomes.
[00:42:01.210]And I would even say student, staff,
[00:42:04.210]and faculty outcomes, right?
[00:42:06.300]Many times I talk about, when we're doing this work,
[00:42:09.360]we often only think about student outcomes,
[00:42:11.590]and that we are here for students.
[00:42:13.310]But I think there's also a learning that should be happening
[00:42:16.680]for our faculty, that should be happening for our staff,
[00:42:20.040]and so, there are definitely intersections.
[00:42:22.740]Again, I know that both Daryl and Katrice,
[00:42:25.840]you sort of addressed this early on, and Rona.
[00:42:29.280]Is there any other follow-up that you wanted to provide?
[00:42:33.380]Did this question, I think.
[00:42:37.790]Yeah, I think we sort of had this one answered
[00:42:39.330]Do we have a next question, Jerri?
[00:42:44.940]Yes.
[00:42:45.940]How do we square the desire
[00:42:48.380]to increase underrepresented populations,
[00:42:51.890]like the assumption that everyone
[00:42:53.760]has a consistent high bandwidth internet connection
[00:42:57.980]Monday through Friday, between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Central?
[00:43:03.460]How do we square those two desires?
[00:43:10.120]So you're, you're asking how do we
[00:43:13.230]square the desire for including people,
[00:43:15.740]recognizing the inequities and access to those things?
[00:43:19.970]Is that- Yeah, correct.
[00:43:22.600]Well, I want to just say that
[00:43:25.330]the current crisis, you know, there's been a lotta language
[00:43:28.270]about we're all in this together, this pandemic, and we are.
[00:43:30.890]But we're differentially involved in this pandemic,
[00:43:32.990]and in very many ways.
[00:43:34.390]Small businesses, businesses of color,
[00:43:37.860]first-line workers, and the demographics
[00:43:39.710]of first-line workers in this country
[00:43:41.060]do not look like the demographics as a whole.
[00:43:43.780]But the internet access,
[00:43:46.290]that's why, when I went on the census, I noted that,
[00:43:48.780]according to the census, 20% of Nebraskans
[00:43:51.190]don't have a consistent internet plan.
[00:43:54.010]And, the interrupt...
[00:43:55.170]So, for me, the language of interrupting the usual.
[00:43:58.130]We assume, and then we do, and we don't see.
[00:44:00.910]And that's why having diversity around your table matters.
[00:44:03.110]Because, someone says, you know, we can't assume that,
[00:44:04.910]or we can't assume that everybody can work from home.
[00:44:08.360]What we've seen in,
[00:44:09.970]in school districts, and in higher education,
[00:44:11.900]which were the campuses, number one,
[00:44:14.500]that already knew who had access to internet,
[00:44:17.962]and if they didn't have access to computers,
[00:44:19.900]and internet hotspots, and computers were delivered?
[00:44:24.630]That was a...I mean, that is a best practice,
[00:44:27.020]because, that immediately says to a family,
[00:44:29.570]on one level we get that there's differential access
[00:44:32.640]to things, and we, in fact, will supply that,
[00:44:35.480]we can interrupt the usual.
[00:44:37.200]It's also in terms of tutoring and support.
[00:44:39.550]I mean, we've got families who are now hiring tutors,
[00:44:42.270]and this is for young children, hiring tutors
[00:44:44.630]to tutor their children.
[00:44:46.090]Well, that's an economic gap that not everybody can do.
[00:44:48.790]So I think the squaring of it is to first know it.
[00:44:52.640]And I think a lot of people didn't think about it.
[00:44:54.730]There are school districts in this country
[00:44:56.510]that are still trying to catch up,
[00:44:57.780]and getting computers and hotspots to kids.
[00:45:01.216]I'm on campuses.
[00:45:02.600]One of the questions, and this is a student affairs role, is
[00:45:05.860]is there a tight alignment between faculty
[00:45:08.160]who observe students not participating in classes,
[00:45:11.960]and somebody calling every single student
[00:45:14.070]to say, "What do you need?"
[00:45:16.750]In this day and age, that's gonna be required,
[00:45:19.430]or what we'll have is the usual.
[00:45:20.970]And people who either don't have access to the internet,
[00:45:23.020]or standing outside of Starbucks with their phone
[00:45:24.960]and trying to write a paper, this is unacceptable
[00:45:28.270]in this country.
[00:45:32.530]Thank you, Daryl, and I would just add,
[00:45:33.483]I think one of the, you know, we've heard a lot about that
[00:45:37.600]we do have, you know, the 8:00 to 5:00 employee
[00:45:40.550]who's working and,
[00:45:43.460]and has really stringent, or limitations,
[00:45:46.680]in terms of being able to do service,
[00:45:50.130]or be engaged outside of some of their working roles.
[00:45:52.960]And so, part of our N2025 plan does have a component,
[00:45:56.390]could dedicate it to faculty, staff,
[00:45:58.650]and student professional development.
[00:46:00.220]And I think that as a institution
[00:46:02.560]we'll have to really reconcile and address
[00:46:05.320]at a core value that we're gonna,
[00:46:07.030]if we're gonna value professional development,
[00:46:08.363]we have to ensure that we're creating space
[00:46:10.800]for people to be engaged in these types of activities.
[00:46:14.210]And so, I think that part of the,
[00:46:16.920]part of the answer is that we have to ensure that we are,
[00:46:21.732]not even encouraging, that we are requiring that supervisors
[00:46:26.920]do apply a level of flexibility that is consistent
[00:46:30.820]and aligned with...this goes back to,
[00:46:32.660]I think it was both Rona and Daryl
[00:46:34.210]that talked about alignment, that is aligned
[00:46:37.500]with our core value, that professional development
[00:46:40.070]is part of the experience for faculty, staff and students
[00:46:43.920]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:46:45.240]And so our, our efforts, and the way that we,
[00:46:48.830]and what's expected has to, has to reflect that.
[00:46:53.490]Yup, Daryl, and then our next question.
[00:46:55.452]Has since.
[00:46:57.090]When you go to a new computer system,
[00:46:59.370]there is professional development, a day is set aside,
[00:47:02.430]and everybody goes.
[00:47:03.860]Because, the assumption is, you can't use the new system
[00:47:06.470]for personnel, for anything, if you're not trained on it.
[00:47:09.790]We do not do the same thing for professional development
[00:47:12.310]for DEI work, and we need to.
[00:47:16.030]Well said. (laughs)
[00:47:17.103]Do we have another question, Jerri?
[00:47:22.930]Yes.
[00:47:26.000]There was the question of how do we get most of department,
[00:47:30.420]including senior staff and administrators,
[00:47:33.690]on board with diversity and inclusion initiatives?
[00:47:39.300]So I'm gonna direct that to Dr. Albert, who,
[00:47:42.720]in addition to being a part of the NCAA, served
[00:47:46.630]in these roles at two different types of institutions,
[00:47:49.250]two different types of land grants,
[00:47:51.056](chuckles) and so, Dr. Albert.
[00:47:53.460]Yeah, so, so I think that's a,
[00:47:55.690]that's a very powerful question, because,
[00:47:58.590]we get nowhere alone.
[00:48:01.360]When we did our prep work with Dr. Barker,
[00:48:03.720]we definitely talked about the fact that he could not be
[00:48:07.010]the Diversity Czar, as the first person
[00:48:10.230]to take on this role.
[00:48:11.630]But, it had, it had to be all of the senior leaders
[00:48:15.800]across the campus saying they're gonna plant the flag,
[00:48:19.660]related to inclusive excellence.
[00:48:22.850]I think that it's a few things, right?
[00:48:25.410]So Daryl, Daryl talked about this early on
[00:48:28.710]in her comments, we can't...if this is not framed
[00:48:32.130]as an imperative, it won't work.
[00:48:35.570]So the Chancellor's framing remarks early on
[00:48:38.680]with the state of diversity...
[00:48:40.750]When I was at the University of Minnesota, the motto was,
[00:48:43.477]"Diversity and equity is everybody's everyday work."
[00:48:47.330]And to be able to do this work well,
[00:48:50.210]we've got to get into the unit.
[00:48:52.430]So both at LSU, and at the University of Minnesota,
[00:48:56.240]you know, Daryl...
[00:48:57.757]No, no, no, Rona talked about
[00:48:59.610]these diversity impact professionals.
[00:49:02.490]The deans are their own chief diversity officers
[00:49:05.780]for their colleges.
[00:49:07.880]Right?
[00:49:08.713]And so, this work has to be tailor made
[00:49:12.040]for each of the colleges, where they are understanding
[00:49:15.130]their own data.
[00:49:16.370]They're situating themselves within their own field,
[00:49:21.180]and trying to race ahead with the ways in which
[00:49:24.430]they do good representational diversity work,
[00:49:27.570]the work of cultural inclusion for their college,
[00:49:31.760]and then the curricular work that is necessary,
[00:49:34.410]so that they are competing, you know, for, you know,
[00:49:38.190]the promise of, you know, the top engineering school
[00:49:41.860]in the country.
[00:49:43.550]But, before then, the deans need to know that
[00:49:47.810]they have to do their own work around cultural intelligence.
[00:49:52.460]So it's not just about the wins and losses
[00:49:55.190]around the victories of assessment and outcomes.
[00:49:59.320]It's also, the leader has to demonstrate
[00:50:02.090]from the grass tops, right, that they're doing
[00:50:05.630]their own cultural intelligence work around
[00:50:09.590]self-awareness, and self-assessment, how they're,
[00:50:12.900]they have attitudes and beliefs about othering.
[00:50:16.450]And then, their knowledge creation and knowledge growth
[00:50:19.910]about the ways in which they're going to situate
[00:50:23.990]DE&I work in their own strat plans.
[00:50:27.630]It's everybody's everyday work, but the Dean
[00:50:30.670]should be their own chief diversity officers.
[00:50:35.350]And my dream, is that every provost
[00:50:37.810]and chancellor hold everybody reporting to them,
[00:50:40.120]where are you on this, what do you need to learn,
[00:50:42.620]and I'm gonna hold you accountable, not optional.
[00:50:45.080]It can't be optional.
[00:50:46.900]And there can't be myths and excuses for why,
[00:50:49.790]because, we have the, you know, the myths.
[00:50:51.810]There aren't, for faculty diversity, there aren't any,
[00:50:53.740]they won't want to come here, we can't afford them,
[00:50:55.360]and they won't stay.
[00:50:56.193]And now, in a budget crisis that every institution is in,
[00:50:59.100]those myths can be fuel for why we're making no progress
[00:51:03.260]on various elements.
[00:51:04.640]So it, the accountability part of this has to be
[00:51:07.010]on the senior leadership, and it has to start from the top.
[00:51:09.610]Otherwise, it's like Sisyphus, and pushing the rock
[00:51:12.430]up a hill, and it'll just come back down on.
[00:51:15.512]I- Yeah, that's really,
[00:51:16.352]really important. Oh, sorry.
[00:51:17.185]Yeah, Rona, good, go ahead.
[00:51:18.018]I was just gonna add, totally agree
[00:51:20.140]with Katrice and Daryl about
[00:51:23.430]embedding it, requiring it, and also
[00:51:27.270]in tandem with that, and I'm even thinking of
[00:51:31.110]the academic departments, and the non-academic departments.
[00:51:33.510]You have individuals there that have the social capital,
[00:51:37.490]and the influence, they're the ones
[00:51:38.680]that have been there 30 years.
[00:51:40.850]They lead by example, they lead,
[00:51:44.570]you know, by the, by the water cooler,
[00:51:46.500]where they're like, "You know what we should do?
[00:51:47.837]"And this is really important work," and they're,
[00:51:49.210]and they're respected, those individuals are
[00:51:53.430]advocates of this, and they can really do a lotta work.
[00:51:56.480]And so, I'm a senior faculty member myself, and so,
[00:52:00.220]oftentimes, I'll spend time with individuals
[00:52:02.560]who are kind of the naysayers, and say, "One-on-one!"
[00:52:05.770]So a lot of times those micro moments are powerful,
[00:52:09.040]where it's like, "What's going on?"
[00:52:11.010]You know?
[00:52:12.200]That kind of sphere of influence is also important in tandem
[00:52:16.740]with the, with the infrastructure.
[00:52:20.810]Absolutely, really, really important points.
[00:52:23.530]I'm so glad that at UNL we have a number of,
[00:52:27.540]some of our deans serve on our Council
[00:52:29.400]on Inclusive Excellence and Diversity.
[00:52:30.830]So Dean Jones, Dean O'Connor are the actual members
[00:52:34.240]for their college on the council,
[00:52:36.230]and have certainly been engaged.
[00:52:38.420]Also, the Chancellor has
[00:52:41.100]really empowered our journey co-leader, so our,
[00:52:44.140]our scholars, and those that have expertise,
[00:52:46.870]who are working with us on anti-racism.
[00:52:49.110]We'll be meeting with all the members
[00:52:50.880]of the executive leadership team to, again,
[00:52:52.960]have some of these conversation.
[00:52:54.110]I think, too, I think we're on our way, sort of,
[00:52:57.100]again, shifting this mantra from that it's one person,
[00:53:00.500]one office's job to it is everyone's work.
[00:53:04.490]Which is sort of the resounding theme
[00:53:06.520]that we've heard from our, from our panel.
[00:53:09.620]Jerri, do we have another question for the panel?
[00:53:12.840]Yes, we do.
[00:53:14.460]How often do you step back from your work,
[00:53:18.370]and look from a student's perspective genuinely?
[00:53:22.280]Not just thinking about how your work appears to students,
[00:53:25.760]and affects them, but actually asking students
[00:53:29.200]what they think about what you've done, and do currently?
[00:53:37.950]Well, I've been, I...
[00:53:39.170]Am I on?
[00:53:40.750]Yes. Yes.
[00:53:42.160]So I'll take, I'll start off by saying, I think
[00:53:44.790]that it's so important to have reciprocal mentoring, right?
[00:53:50.580]I often tell people that I'm Gen X,
[00:53:53.560]but I was raised by Boomers, so I think like a Boomer,
[00:53:56.500]I act like a Boomer, I sound like a Boomer.
[00:53:59.540]But it's so powerful to have reciprocal mentoring from
[00:54:05.430]Millennials and Zs, who keep you, your feet to the fire,
[00:54:09.470]and keep you accountable, and challenge you in ways that,
[00:54:13.760]you know, just, you're like, you're dumbfounded,
[00:54:16.680]like, "Why didn't I think of this?"
[00:54:18.630]You know, where, where's my head?
[00:54:21.080]And so, I think that it's so important for all of us
[00:54:24.450]to have that level of reciprocal mentoring,
[00:54:28.040]to be able to step back, because, when you have passion
[00:54:31.770]and purpose for this kind of work,
[00:54:33.940]you just go at it so hard, right?
[00:54:36.400]You're dug deep in, you're just at the grindstone every day,
[00:54:41.280]just grinding a way, trying to
[00:54:44.420]make movement for DE&I work, and belonging work.
[00:54:48.160]And so, you, sometimes you get sort of in a vacuum,
[00:54:51.490]and in your own head.
[00:54:53.070]And so, it's such a powerful question, because,
[00:54:57.000]if there's nothing else that I can, you know,
[00:54:59.370]impart to our participants, is to really have that level
[00:55:03.280]of reciprocal mentoring, where you are both vulnerable
[00:55:06.840]and courageous enough to ask the young people around you
[00:55:09.990]how you're doing?
[00:55:11.440]What's going well?
[00:55:13.150]What do you need to tweak, and where you
[00:55:16.010]are just totally messin' up?
[00:55:18.240]And so...and young people, Millennials and Zs
[00:55:20.740]don't have a problem telling you straight.
[00:55:23.940]And so, the reciprocal mentees that I have around me,
[00:55:28.100]they're on speed dial, and on text message,
[00:55:31.160]and they keep me grounded, related to my social media,
[00:55:34.760]especially, when I'm not doin' it enough.
[00:55:36.980]And they also know how to say, "You know, Katrice,
[00:55:39.847]"I think that you're doing really well in, in this,
[00:55:42.647]"you know, in this particular area, but,
[00:55:45.147]"it's fallen flat with us
[00:55:47.647]"in this other area, right?"
[00:55:49.930]And they are very firm,
[00:55:52.250]but fair at saying,
[00:55:55.077]"Here's where you need to race ahead, and think through,
[00:55:57.987]"and get some more young people around you to help you."
[00:56:01.620]I think that reciprocal mentoring is so necessary,
[00:56:04.970]important, and vital.
[00:56:08.390]Can I add one thing, too?
[00:56:10.150]I love that notion, Katrice, of reciprocal mentoring,
[00:56:13.830]I love that.
[00:56:16.300]Thank you, for the question,
[00:56:17.410]I think it's incredibly important.
[00:56:19.970]I feel
[00:56:22.050]pretty honored to say that I'm still embedded
[00:56:25.520]among students, so I'm, I'm still in the classroom.
[00:56:28.710]And I actually teach, I teach the courses,
[00:56:30.870]intercultural communication courses, Daryl,
[00:56:32.590]that are required.
[00:56:33.959](laughs)
[00:56:35.020]That student, I'm always like,
[00:56:36.447]"I know you would choose this class anyways.
[00:56:38.647]"I know you would, even if it wasn't required."
[00:56:42.270]So I have students from all different majors,
[00:56:45.610]and fields, and backgrounds.
[00:56:47.070]And keep in mind, I'm at, I'm a,
[00:56:49.663]a 23 year Professor at San Jose State,
[00:56:51.840]and we're largely commuter,
[00:56:53.560]and most of my students are historically underrepresented.
[00:56:56.380]They pay for college themselves.
[00:56:58.360]They go in and out, sometimes, I see them over a period
[00:57:00.810]of eight to nine years, and they do keep it real.
[00:57:04.020]They absolutely keep it real,
[00:57:05.430]and I ask them questions all the time.
[00:57:07.500]I have about a hundred students right now.
[00:57:11.730]They always give me the student point of view on DEI,
[00:57:15.010]and identity.
[00:57:16.720]A lot of students would rather talk about identity,
[00:57:18.980]maybe less so about race.
[00:57:22.000]And so, those types of things, so appreciate the question.
[00:57:25.500]And I think that question, you know, I'm thinking about
[00:57:27.390]the audience, and the students in the audience,
[00:57:29.090]and the faculty in the audience,
[00:57:29.980]do you feel empowered now to speak?
[00:57:33.060]And one of the concerns I have, as you go up the ladder,
[00:57:36.650]maybe less empowerment.
[00:57:38.060]So I see on campuses, for example, the assistant professors
[00:57:40.880]who have more often on many campuses more diversity
[00:57:43.570]than the senior professors.
[00:57:44.620]Are you empowered, or do you think
[00:57:45.810]that'll sacrifice your tenure?
[00:57:47.370]And we squash the very perspectives we need.
[00:57:50.510]And I think about this, I want to keep emphasizing it,
[00:57:53.410]my students were largely PhD students,
[00:57:56.970]older students, first-generation students, persons of color,
[00:58:00.640]so I learned all the time of things I wasn't thinking about.
[00:58:03.740]But, the issue is, what about your graduate students?
[00:58:06.860]Are they being de...
[00:58:08.740]Are they being mindful and obedient, because,
[00:58:12.170]they think they need to, in order to get their degree?
[00:58:14.410]Or are they being empowered to speak in the classroom,
[00:58:17.710]in their research?
[00:58:19.100]Reading the research and saying, "Why are they asking
[00:58:20.847]"the question that way, it should be asked this way?"
[00:58:22.860]Or are they being told, "No, don't do that, it's not
[00:58:26.247]"big enough, or whatever."
[00:58:27.670]So I think the, the issue of empowerment and finding voice
[00:58:30.870]goes right from the very first time a student arrives,
[00:58:33.970]all the way through the system.
[00:58:35.290]And we need to make sure that people feel empowered.
[00:58:37.390]Otherwise, the information, we'll just have
[00:58:39.140]to continue dealing with explosions.
[00:58:41.950]You know, I'll give you just a very personal
[00:58:43.770]Southern California example.
[00:58:45.520]Osco Drugs was around the corner from me.
[00:58:47.510]I don't know if you've got Osco Drugs in Nebraska,
[00:58:49.480]you do, you do an Iowa.
[00:58:51.300]Now, it was around the corner from my house,
[00:58:53.970]all the labels, the millions of dollars in marketing.
[00:58:57.280]A month later, Osco was gone, and Save-On was in,
[00:59:00.270]and now CVS.
[00:59:01.330]And, the reason, if you speak to any degree of Spanish,
[00:59:04.310]Osco means disgusting and vomit in some form of Spanish.
[00:59:09.270]And I kept thinking about the staff people
[00:59:11.910]who cleaned the building, who saw the drafts
[00:59:14.340]of the marketing.
[00:59:16.180]And I sat there and went, they're really gonna call
[00:59:17.950]this Osco drugs in Southern California?
[00:59:22.150]So, empowerment, and that can be the person
[00:59:24.920]who's in the dining hall.
[00:59:26.570]Do people feel empowered to have an opinion,
[00:59:30.040]to express a concern,
[00:59:32.340]and find its way, and this is the alignment question
[00:59:34.340]that Rona raised, find its way to someone who can say,
[00:59:37.767]"We don't need an explosion, let's do something about it."
[00:59:41.900]Yeah, you know, these are really important points.
[00:59:43.890]And I think, you know, thinking about this empowerment, and
[00:59:47.200]I think, how do we create an environment that,
[00:59:51.350]and create a level of access, so that students feel like
[00:59:55.500]they can talk with someone about the issues
[00:59:58.040]that they are experiencing, and be part of the conversation?
[01:00:01.400]And it's something that you just have to keep working on.
[01:00:03.360]Right?
[01:00:04.193]You may try something and it doesn't work, right?
[01:00:07.710]When I first started doing office hours at Nebraska,
[01:00:10.410]no one was attending.
[01:00:12.260]But, in that moment, I said I'm gonna continue doing this,
[01:00:14.680]because, this is important, and eventually
[01:00:17.870]I will demonstrate that I can be trusted,
[01:00:21.070]in terms of being a space, being open.
[01:00:23.630]And so, sometimes I think we can do efforts
[01:00:26.320]that try and get at, to be able to hear student voices,
[01:00:29.830]and then easily get distracted, if we don't see the results.
[01:00:33.880]And so, we have to keep sort of working at it,
[01:00:36.020]so that we're also building trust, I think, too,
[01:00:38.350]with students, so that they are empowered
[01:00:40.120]to be able to do that.
[01:00:41.157]And I think creating these spaces,
[01:00:43.480]how you create access, again, is really important.
[01:00:46.150]I think also ensuring that there are opportunities to be on,
[01:00:50.200]on students' terms, right?
[01:00:52.240]I'm very big about, okay, if you're already having a meeting
[01:00:54.530]let me know, and I'll come to your meeting, right?
[01:00:56.260]As opposed to finding time for you to come to me,
[01:00:59.160]I think it was really important.
[01:01:00.180]And then, certainly being able to listen is so create,
[01:01:03.730]so key, and to this ideal about reciprocating mentoring,
[01:01:08.210]as Katrina mentioned, I think this is just really,
[01:01:10.330]really important.
[01:01:11.850]I think we have time for one more, one,
[01:01:13.837]one or two more questions, Jerri?
[01:01:17.120]Next question is: What is the structure
[01:01:20.760]for effective accountability for leadership commitment
[01:01:25.050]in this area?
[01:01:28.660]That's great.
[01:01:29.500]So earlier there was a question about
[01:01:31.380]holding leaders accountable.
[01:01:32.840]Now the question is, what does that look like?
[01:01:34.940](laughs)
[01:01:35.773]We are holding leaderships, holding leaders accountable,
[01:01:38.360]what could that look like?
[01:01:42.300]Yes, Daryl?
[01:01:43.770]Well, one of the things we've learned
[01:01:45.230]in studying organizational change
[01:01:46.950]in this topic around the country,
[01:01:49.120]and, you know, we often say that diversity work
[01:01:51.800]is not just about numbers,
[01:01:54.330]but it tells an awful lot to start with numbers,
[01:01:56.710]and at the macro level.
[01:01:57.980]I've often talked to senior leaders, or boards,
[01:02:00.970]and the report under, is a list of programs and projects.
[01:02:04.610]And in this particular moment in time, proliferation
[01:02:07.130]of programs and projects is not the answer
[01:02:09.290]of we're making progress.
[01:02:10.870]That just means we're doing lots of stuff.
[01:02:13.090]And, for me, the question is,
[01:02:14.350]where are the markers of change?
[01:02:16.320]And some of those are things like Rona's work
[01:02:18.540]in climate assessments, the most squishiest part
[01:02:20.930]of this dilemma.
[01:02:22.400]But, who's there?
[01:02:23.300]Access, not only for students, but faculty and staff
[01:02:26.480]in leadership roles, success.
[01:02:31.020]Disaggregated graduation rates, time to degree
[01:02:33.730]at the graduate level and undergraduate level
[01:02:35.490]is a very important marker at every campus.
[01:02:38.180]We know now what you can do to interrupt
[01:02:40.330]the achievement gap.
[01:02:41.430]We have campuses that have interrupted it.
[01:02:44.170]You still have some of that.
[01:02:45.700]So marking progress.
[01:02:46.980]And I don't, frankly, believe in just all the benchmarking,
[01:02:50.230]the Big 10, because, if they're all doing badly,
[01:02:52.310]why do you want to be the best of the bad?
[01:02:54.680]Sorry.
[01:02:56.220]For me, the issue is, are we making progress?
[01:03:01.791]10 years ago, what was the demographics of your faculty?
[01:03:04.320]Are being people being promoted?
[01:03:06.480]Do you have a retention issue?
[01:03:07.570]For student success, not just at the undergraduate level,
[01:03:10.170]please, you should be looking at completion of your PhDs.
[01:03:12.940]If we are short on African-American faculty,
[01:03:17.070]you should be producing them.
[01:03:19.990]And that means identifying talent,
[01:03:22.070]and nurturing them to success,
[01:03:23.680]and we're not doing a very good job on it.
[01:03:25.120]So I think the accountability is very simple, basic stuff.
[01:03:28.150]It goes from mission, just like budget.
[01:03:30.720]You know, no senior leader would say,
[01:03:32.747]"Well, I don't care about the budget,
[01:03:33.857]"or we're doing lovely things with the budget."
[01:03:35.930]They know exactly whether they balance the budget,
[01:03:38.330]where research money is coming from advancement.
[01:03:40.720]I want people to know exactly
[01:03:42.340]how many African-American faculty they have 10 years ago
[01:03:45.080]and now, and I can tell you about yours,
[01:03:48.670]and say we're not making progress.
[01:03:56.820]Thank you, Daryl.
[01:03:58.690]I think we have time for maybe one more question, Jerri.
[01:04:04.014]The next question is:
[01:04:06.200]How does providing multi-cultural centers
[01:04:10.820]to students of color advance inclusiveness?
[01:04:13.800]It would seem more beneficial for everyone to be together,
[01:04:18.260]and learn from each other.
[01:04:23.600]Let me, can I start this?
[01:04:25.310]Absolutely. Can I start this one?
[01:04:26.459](laughs)
[01:04:27.292]I actually get asked this quite a bit,
[01:04:29.380]because, I look at identity spaces
[01:04:30.920]and cultural centers when I map.
[01:04:32.770]It's an excellent question.
[01:04:34.600]I think the way I would approach it is,
[01:04:38.050]I think sometimes when we say the word inclusion,
[01:04:40.890]we think that exists in a vacuum.
[01:04:43.630]So, for me, I'm very clear that
[01:04:46.290]a place of learning, like a university,
[01:04:48.970]for example, and a public university
[01:04:52.510]exists already on a societal plane that is already unequal.
[01:04:57.710]That there have been a hierarchy of differences, right?
[01:05:01.840]And so, the university has an opportunity
[01:05:05.880]to intervene into that plane, right?
[01:05:09.050]However, as we know, historically, most institutions
[01:05:13.190]have actually reproduced the same hierarchy of differences,
[01:05:17.330]historically, over time, through segregation, through,
[01:05:22.550]you know, tuition hikes, through a number of things,
[01:05:27.000]non-affirming practices.
[01:05:29.730]Identity spaces and cultural centers
[01:05:31.610]weren't meant to exclude.
[01:05:34.030]They were meant to really speak to groups
[01:05:37.590]that have already been historically excluded from groups.
[01:05:40.510]And so, I think, for me, thinking about it that way,
[01:05:43.550]about safe spaces,
[01:05:45.670]and also
[01:05:47.280]having institutions engage in bold interventions
[01:05:52.020]to chip away at that already unequal societal plane,
[01:05:55.820]I think, for me, is the biggest thing.
[01:05:57.820]'Cause everyone's like, "Well, we should
[01:05:58.653]"just open everything up."
[01:05:59.730]Yes, if historically, from the test of time,
[01:06:02.190]we're already on the same plane.
[01:06:04.480]But we weren't, and we know this.
[01:06:06.670]So I'm not saying that
[01:06:09.500]people aren't welcome.
[01:06:10.840]If you actually go into most identity spaces
[01:06:12.830]and cultural centers at any of these institutions,
[01:06:15.310]they're like, "You are welcome.
[01:06:17.007]"But here is the mission of our group, and our space,
[01:06:21.427]"and these are our commitments.
[01:06:22.707]"And if you want to help with that, that's important, too."
[01:06:26.080]And affinity groups, as well.
[01:06:27.980]So I just, I kind of want us to complicate
[01:06:31.140]how we think of identity spaces and cultural centers.
[01:06:34.730]They're not exclusionary!
[01:06:36.870]But they are identity specific, to match
[01:06:40.440]the unequal society in which we live.
[01:06:42.660]Maybe I'm not making myself as clear,
[01:06:44.120]but that's kind of my first stab at it.
[01:06:47.020]No, that's really helpful, and I'm, I,
[01:06:49.650]too, when I hear from Katrice, as well, I know with our,
[01:06:52.020]during our time at LSU, there were,
[01:06:54.090]the construction of the center is a women's center,
[01:06:57.030]African American cultural center.
[01:06:58.130]There was also a multicultural center, there was a proposal,
[01:07:00.970]put all the centers together.
[01:07:03.080]And students
[01:07:05.270]clearly articulated their discontent with that idea.
[01:07:08.930]And so, it was really important for them
[01:07:10.270]to have these identity spaces, and so...
[01:07:13.120]Maybe Katrice, and then we'll finish out with Daryl,
[01:07:15.130]and then finish out today's panel, yeah.
[01:07:17.200]Yeah, and Rona, I think that you situated it
[01:07:19.470]and framed this wonderfully.
[01:07:20.930]And I think that I, I love the phraseology,
[01:07:23.750]I want us to complicate this, right?
[01:07:25.760]Because, when you do, when you're thoughtful,
[01:07:28.240]and you think about identity development.
[01:07:31.960]Right?
[01:07:33.160]You think about Beverly Tatum's
[01:07:35.147]"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting At the,
[01:07:37.167]"At the Cafeteria Table Together?"
[01:07:40.740]It is to be able to create these safe spaces.
[01:07:44.910]Then to be able to go out,
[01:07:46.910]come in, come into the space.
[01:07:50.550]Get the, get the social, and the,
[01:07:53.550]and the emotional buildup, right, the social
[01:07:57.280]and emotional capital needed to, to go to some
[01:08:00.590]of these other spaces on the campus,
[01:08:03.270]where you may be the only one.
[01:08:05.660]And then if some, for, for example, some conversation
[01:08:10.250]around race happens, the entire class turns to you.
[01:08:14.520]And then you're supposed to speak on behalf
[01:08:17.160]of your entire ethnic group.
[01:08:19.560]That's exhausting, right?
[01:08:21.370]And so, you know, from all of the scholars
[01:08:24.010]that talk about racial battle fatigue
[01:08:25.990]in higher education, these ethnically
[01:08:31.060]cohesive centers allow that identity development to,
[01:08:35.600]number one, grow and be encapsulated,
[01:08:37.910]but then, also, the support.
[01:08:40.690]If our universities had been founded on a equal plane,
[01:08:45.130]sure, inclusive excellence would already be here,
[01:08:47.827]and we wouldn't be having this,
[01:08:49.680]you know, amazing discussion.
[01:08:51.550]But all of the scholars related
[01:08:53.130]to identity development suggest you need these spaces,
[01:08:56.950]in order to build up that emotional, and
[01:09:01.690]mental and physical capital that you need,
[01:09:04.600]in order to succeed
[01:09:06.710]in spaces where you are othered.
[01:09:11.910]And I think the issue of the complexity of identity
[01:09:14.560]is really important.
[01:09:15.393]If I had two learning outcomes for everybody
[01:09:17.270]in our institution, it would be the complexity of identity,
[01:09:19.840]and the embedded structural inequities that are invisible,
[01:09:22.410]that we don't see.
[01:09:24.090]One of the things we know, for healthy communities,
[01:09:26.550]is not one Nebraska, or, we're all blue.
[01:09:29.920]It's the multiplicity of all of our identities.
[01:09:32.100]And what these spaces do, actually, is create an opportunity
[01:09:35.060]for the diversity within those communities.
[01:09:36.990]There are huge diversities when a,
[01:09:39.290]a African American cultural center,
[01:09:41.280]or a Latinx cultural center, national,
[01:09:44.740]religious, all kinds of that,
[01:09:46.953]LGBTQ issues, those spaces create an opportunity,
[01:09:50.050]also, to deal with the complexity of diversity
[01:09:51.910]within those communities,
[01:09:53.000]but allowing that shared identity to be
[01:09:56.800]something that is shared.
[01:09:57.850]We build healthy communities,
[01:09:59.470]because, we share something in common,
[01:10:02.280]and then we bring our diversity to it.
[01:10:05.156]And that's...
[01:10:06.090]So it's not about, we're all one,
[01:10:07.680]and let's just not pay attention to all this.
[01:10:09.480]We all have multiple identities.
[01:10:11.340]And what we're trying to do in these multicultural centers,
[01:10:14.190]and different centers, is to enhance those identities
[01:10:17.110]that have been particularly invisible
[01:10:19.130]in most of our institutions.
[01:10:26.110]Thank you, so much, for that, Dr. Smith.
[01:10:28.160]Dr. Barker had to step away for a moment.
[01:10:30.610]But I do want to use this as an opportunity,
[01:10:32.270]because, there was a great question, or cue in the Q&A.
[01:10:34.147]I know we said we're gonna wrap this part up.
[01:10:36.610]But I had wanted to pose this,
[01:10:37.630]because, I thought it would be a wonderful way
[01:10:39.780]kind of to close this out, especially, as we have you all,
[01:10:42.153]that could possibly give us some words of encouragement.
[01:10:44.770]So there was a question that said:
[01:10:46.460]Do you have words of encouragement for leadership
[01:10:48.990]on how they can do DEI work, so that their hearts are open,
[01:10:53.370]rather than defended?
[01:10:54.680]It's a process, and we can do this to help our community.
[01:10:58.750]To quote Ibram Kendi, "Racism is like fighting addiction,
[01:11:03.107]"use persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism,
[01:11:07.727]"and regular self-examination."
[01:11:10.070]You all want to use some words of encouragement?
[01:11:13.000]I think we have a lot of great leaders here.
[01:11:15.740]Ways that their hearts can be open, rather than defended?
[01:11:21.490]Well, I guess I can start.
[01:11:24.130]Dr. Smith made reference to Xavier University of Louisiana,
[01:11:28.090]and that's my alma mater, and I'm so proud
[01:11:30.450]that she used Xavier as an example.
[01:11:34.400]Saint Katharine Drexel was Xavier's Founder,
[01:11:38.030]and white Philadelphia heiress who gave her fortune
[01:11:42.000]to open schools all across the Southwest region for
[01:11:47.060]African Americans and indigenous populations.
[01:11:50.490]My quote that I just love, where I'm able to keep,
[01:11:54.310]keep the spirit, and to keep going, she says,
[01:11:56.817]"We have to open wide our hearts,
[01:11:59.617]"press forward, and fear nothing."
[01:12:02.410]Open wide our hearts, press forward, and fear nothing.
[01:12:06.960]So, if nothing else, you know, this state of diversity,
[01:12:10.510]you have to keep going.
[01:12:12.490]But it, it has to be done with a wide open heart.
[01:12:16.190]And you, you have to have courage and vulnerability
[01:12:19.530]to press forward, and fear nothing,
[01:12:21.410]like Saint Catherine Drexel.
[01:12:25.460]And I would just say that, you know,
[01:12:27.460]if I take out my activist, scholarly hat on change,
[01:12:31.910]and put on a president's hat, or a chancellor's hat,
[01:12:34.560]in fact, Marco did this at the beginning,
[01:12:36.510]we have to mark progress.
[01:12:38.240]And one of the things that I would say to the activists
[01:12:40.650]in a community is, if I have to mark progress,
[01:12:44.150]just psychologically we have to, that's what we do,
[01:12:47.010]and I'm an activist, and I put my activist hat on,
[01:12:49.090]and I'm showing all the places
[01:12:50.530]where we haven't made progress, we'll do this.
[01:12:53.610]So one of the things that I think is so important for,
[01:12:56.190]for people who are active, and care about this,
[01:12:59.350]and leaders who want to say, "Well, yeah,
[01:13:01.667]"but we've made progress over there,"
[01:13:04.470]is to begin to say, "Yes, we've made progress here,
[01:13:07.197]"but we haven't made progress here.
[01:13:08.697]"Let's work together for the change."
[01:13:10.730]And often I've feared, right now,
[01:13:12.430]and particularly right now, we're doing this.
[01:13:15.040]And it's much more fun to open a new building.
[01:13:23.810]How can I top these two amazing contributors and,
[01:13:27.840]and what they say?
[01:13:28.673]I would affirm Dr. Albert, Dr. Smith's comments
[01:13:31.780]about working together.
[01:13:33.817]"Opening your heart," what an amazing quote.
[01:13:38.796]And doing the work.
[01:13:40.220]I mean, I think that people think, oh,
[01:13:44.800]you know, this is gonna die down in a couple of months,
[01:13:47.650]and we're, we're just not gonna have to worry about it.
[01:13:49.387]And I was like, wow, I've never thought about it that way.
[01:13:52.020]For me,
[01:13:53.780]DEI is a,
[01:13:54.940]is life.
[01:13:56.670]There's a sense of permanence for me
[01:13:58.260]that I've never, ever not known, and maybe
[01:14:01.180]it was the way in which I was raised.
[01:14:03.380]But,
[01:14:04.780]I think, to do the work,
[01:14:07.040]to be courageous in doing the work,
[01:14:09.680]to keep talking with one another,
[01:14:12.630]posing questions, all those things,
[01:14:14.640]I think that is really, really important
[01:14:16.740]to add to the other comments, as well.
[01:14:19.980]Thank you.
[01:14:20.813]So thank you, all, so very much.
[01:14:23.401]I'm gonna be like Dr. Mark with my little buckets here,
[01:14:25.200]because I, I've made so many notes while I've been listening
[01:14:28.030]to all three of you, because I've been,
[01:14:29.290]so I'm leaving so inspired, I have to say that.
[01:14:31.900]Because, this work is, during this period right now,
[01:14:34.650]I don't, I always say this to individuals on campus,
[01:14:38.660]but also in my personal life, I think we're in a moment
[01:14:41.070]where there were so many people who have come before us,
[01:14:44.220]who've done such great work,
[01:14:46.200]who did not have the luxury, of course,
[01:14:48.500]of having so many support systems,
[01:14:50.440]or just even looking around in ways in which
[01:14:52.790]we can see right now through technology what's happening.
[01:14:55.300]And I'd be remiss if I wouldn't mention some of those events
[01:14:57.450]that are kind of really crowding our own minds,
[01:14:59.600]when we think about DE&I.
[01:15:01.252]So I think this is so timely, your conversations.
[01:15:04.240]As I'm listening to Dr Albert, "Open wide our hearts,
[01:15:06.517]"fear nothing, and press forward."
[01:15:08.880]Dr. Smith, which I hopes keep saying,
[01:15:10.720]the importance of measuring our,
[01:15:12.630]the data and assessment is so key.
[01:15:14.460]That's what's gonna measure our progress.
[01:15:16.340]And then, of course, we're leaving with, doing the work,
[01:15:19.097]DEI is life, and you now have a sense of permanency
[01:15:21.640]with this, because, you're committed to this work.
[01:15:23.377]And I think if we can leave with that,
[01:15:26.180]I think our campus, we're all better for that.
[01:15:28.980]So I just want to thank you all so very much for your time,
[01:15:32.120]for your expertise.
[01:15:33.770]I have to say, that when Dr. Parker was kind of unfolding
[01:15:37.010]what State of Diversity would look like this year,
[01:15:38.990]I was very excited for a number of reasons.
[01:15:41.620]I was selfishly excited, because, I thought to myself,
[01:15:43.890]oh, I get to meet my boss' former boss.
[01:15:46.260]That was one of the reasons. (chuckles)
[01:15:47.610]And then I got to think to myself, the person
[01:15:49.500]who helped to craft where we are right now
[01:15:52.590]for this campus, all the mapping that you've done
[01:15:54.790]during my interview process, I've read so many reports
[01:15:57.580]that you and your brother have done,
[01:15:58.610]so I was excited about that.
[01:16:00.260]And, of course, Dr. Smith may not remember,
[01:16:02.160]but I was part of the Institute for STPI
[01:16:05.530]in 2019, and I have continuously followed your work.
[01:16:08.910]So I have to say, thank you, all, so very much.
[01:16:12.260]I want to close this out now, and then encourage everyone,
[01:16:16.600]one, of course, if you want to connect with us,
[01:16:19.120]our office, this is how you do so.
[01:16:21.390]We also have a very short survey
[01:16:23.010]that we're gonna send out a little bit later today.
[01:16:25.090]But I'm also gonna put this in the chat really quickly,
[01:16:27.610]because, we want to make sure,
[01:16:29.484]we want to hear your feedback.
[01:16:30.900]So, for all those that attended, there's a short survey
[01:16:32.750]that we're asking for you to take.
[01:16:34.730]I want to join you all, I'm gonna join it Wednesday.
[01:16:36.840]Thank you, all, so much, for our wonderful panel.
[01:16:39.010]I think we've all left not only inspired,
[01:16:41.100]but absolutely motivated for the next steps.
[01:16:44.130]We have a long road ahead of us,
[01:16:45.390]not just for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[01:16:47.640]but for the state of Nebraska, and, of course,
[01:16:50.100]for this nation as a whole.
[01:16:51.220]But, I think, with these words, and with your,
[01:16:53.670]your guided expertise, I think we're on
[01:16:55.170]the right path forward, so thank you, so much.
[01:16:57.510]And thank you, all, for joining us today,
[01:16:59.240]we truly appreciate it.

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2020 State of Diversity Session II

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