Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer's March Letter

March 20, 2023 - Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D.

Greetings,

As we enter spring, I find campus is bustling with many recognitions in continuation of the work that gives us all purpose. I am reminded of the vibrancy that abounds at MSU, especially during this time of needed healing and restoration.

Along those lines, I am excited to share the 2022-23 annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report, which continues to highlight demographic diversity, and for the first time captures efforts to advance institutional diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, strategic priorities. I encourage everyone to read about the initiatives underway.

Additionally, the Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, or IDI, kept busy tracking over 200 institution-wide action items which emerged in the DEI Steering Committee Report and Plan. This academic year, 9% of all actions have been implemented, 41% are in progress, 22% are being evaluated and 28% have not started.

The report summarizes the completed or in progress achievements organized under the DEI Report and Plan’s four strategic goals: increase diversity, ensure equity, promote inclusion and enhance outreach and engagement.

To supplement the report, IDI is developing a DEI scorecard to assist in tracking and reporting MSU’s DEI achievements, which will be released in the coming months. The scorecard will align the four strategic goals of the DEI Report and Plan with the five DEI objectives in the MSU 2030: Empowering Excellence, Advancing Equity and Expanding Impact university strategic plan.

In other news, March 21 is Agriculture Appreciation Day, and I look forward to further acknowledging the importance of migrant farmworker labor with IDI’s annual César Chávez and Dolores Huerta Commemorative Celebration on March 31.

In addition, stay tuned for the 2nd annual IDI Speaker Series event featuring University of Pennsylvania Professor Dorothy Roberts, J.D., who will be joining me on April 4 for a discussion on the legacy of racism in medicine and how to address it. The series necessarily elevates critical conversations on topics in higher education that have a national impact.

Finally, if you missed the Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards, you can view the highlights reel featuring the ten award recipients. Our office is accepting nominations for the awards for 2023-24, which are due August 31. Additionally, the Creating Inclusive Excellence Grants program is also open and accepting proposal submissions due April 10.

I invite the Spartan community to engage in these and many other important campus-wide initiatives that shed light on MSU’s strength and resonance. 

Sincerely, 

 

Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D. (he/him)

Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer