Central Connecticut State University’s Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) has doubled down on its efforts to foster a welcoming campus community, while other states defund and ban similar initiatives.
Michael Russo, interim vice president of equity, said that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives strive to support all students in their success and well-being.
“DEI programming is about fostering an inclusive environment for every member of our campus community, so that they feel valued, they feel respected and empowered to thrive,” he said. “By embracing diversity, we enrich our campus culture, broaden our understanding, promote well-being, and prepare our students to navigate a complex and interconnected world.”
Russo, who is also the director of counseling and student development, emphasized the importance of DEI programs and initiatives on college campuses, especially in the current political climate. Across the country, 14 states have introduced legislation that would eliminate funding for DEI offices and staff from college campuses, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Shortly after the University of Florida disbanded its DEI department in March, the University of Texas at Austin laid off around 60 people in compliance with a senate bill that passed in 2023, according to a press release by Texas NAACP and Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Russo said that defunding or eliminating DEI programs at CCSU would negatively impact the campus climate and community.
“There’d be a loss of support for underrepresented groups on campus,” Russo said. “There’d be a decrease in diversity programming, obviously. There’d be a potential increase in discrimination and bias incidents on campus or there’d be a negative impact on campus. The climate would just be less welcoming, I think, for people of diverse backgrounds, and that really could impact recruitment and retention, I think.”
During the OEI’s “Brewing Connections” event, Beth Merenstein, interim director of inclusion, and Mia Dorantes, inclusion coordinator, held an open forum to facilitate conversations on how students and faculty can get involved.
“We hold listening sessions, which are really important,” Dorantes said. “Where students can come and talk about how they’re feeling and voice their concerns.”
While Dorantes, Merenstein, and other staff at the OEI see many students during listening sessions, it’s important for them to show up at DEI events, Merenstein said.
“When different people can get together and have these difficult conversations, they realize they’re not so different,” Dorantes said.
Merenstein said that the OEI is there for faculty and staff, too, offering training throughout the semester. These workshops help professors have “brave conversations” in the classroom, where students can feel comfortable expressing themselves.
“Really, the focus of that is to help people begin to have discussions in a way where they can listen, they can express their thoughts, and views and opinions and perspectives,” Russo said. “But they can also hear those of others and begin to think about how maybe we’re not as different as we thought and the areas where we do have differences, understand where other people are coming from and gain some. Just having that understanding helps build relationships.”
Part of being an inclusive campus is giving students the freedom to practice and gather around commonalities like religion, political views, and gender identity. CCSU is rich with student groups of diverse beliefs, which can, at times, cause conflict.
Merenstein, who is also a member of Central’s Task Force for Free Speech, said that students can gather and protest on campus as long as they don’t infringe upon the rights of others. For example, students cannot protest inside academic buildings because they would be impeding others’ right to an education, she said.
“There are clear policies on what needs to happen,” Merenstein said. “Students submit a plan; we give them the guidelines and they’re expected to follow them. We’re not allowed to stop them, and they’re not allowed to stop each other.”
DEI strives to prepare students, who could one day become leaders, for the struggles and conflicts they may encounter in the real world, Russo said.
“To me, the college experience is one that transcends academic learning,” he said. “It’s a time for students to learn about themselves, to learn about other cultures, and about how they fit into the world. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion really supports this opportunity, and it creates platforms for identifying and confronting injustice, is increasing awareness regarding biases, and creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue. And that’s so much of what’s missing these days.”
