On December 16, Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy published an article titled “Leading Change with Inclusion, Courage, and Global Perspective,” which outlines how universities should embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts into their core policies while avoiding federal complications.
The article, which covered a recent school webinar, emphasized that universities should move away from political talking points and focus on implementing equity-driven policies in core areas.
The article urges universities to “Anchor equity in strategy—not politics or sentiment,” “Clarify which elements of your equity work are evolving and which values and practices remain non-negotiable,” and “Identify opportunities to fortify high-impact initiatives rather than simply defending or scaling back.”
The article also addressed efforts to conceal DEI initiatives behind the term “belonging,” but warned that this term does not go far enough.
“This framework reveals why many diversity initiatives fail—they focus solely on belonging (getting people in the door and then working to make them “fit-in”) without creating space for people to be authentically different,” states the article.
“True inclusion requires a valuing of both dimensions—belongingness and uniqueness—simultaneously.”
This trend of rebranding DEI efforts to escape the Trump administration’s crackdown is evident at several universities, even as hidden-camera missions expose it.
In October, a University of Virginia official was caught on camera admitting that the university intentionally conceals DEI programs by using varied language.
“We didn’t actually get rid of our programs and stuff like that, just like renamed them,” said the University of Virginia official regarding DEI programs.
CrtiticalRace.org uncovered several other universities that have rebranded DEI efforts, specifically using the same ‘belonging’ term that the Northwestern article utilizes.
In Georgia, Berry College’s Office of Belonging and Community Engagement offers DEI workshops, including Safe Spaces and The Bias Challenge training sessions.
At Colorado College, the “Office of Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” was renamed to the “Office of Institutional Equity and Belonging,” but still maintains an Antiracism Book Club and the Antiracist Community Engagement Grant.
The Northwestern article concludes with a quote from the webinar speaker encouraging DEI practitioners to continue moving forward and develop even stronger initiatives in the future.
“It’s been a very difficult year for DEI practitioners or anyone that cares about DEIJ,” stated one of the webinar speakers,” states the speaker.
“But it is an incredible resurgence in resolve… we’re going to figure this out and take the opportunity to come out with something even stronger and better than what we had before.”
[Featured image via YouTube]
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