SUNY Purchase Continues to Maintain Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

SUNY Purchase Continues to Maintain Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

Lots of colleges are doing this, which suggests that they think everything is eventually going to go back to the way it was.

Campus Reform reports:

SUNY Purchase keeps DEI committee targeting ‘systemic bias’

Purchase College in Purchase, New York, continues to maintain a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee that says it recommends initiatives toward “dismantling systemic bias,” even as the Trump administration has moved to restrict race-based preferences and DEI programming in higher education.

The college also maintains an Affirmative Action Office page and an Office of Diversity and Compliance page that says Purchase works through “affirmative action planning,” “data-informed analysis,” and “institutional accountability” to remove barriers and promote fairness.

Purchase’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee page says the DEIC handles governance issues involving diversity within the curriculum, student body, and college personnel.

In an advisory role as a standing subcommittee of the Purchase College Senate, the DEIC “shares information, facilitates events, and recommends initiatives toward the goal of dismantling systemic bias,” the page states.

The committee also supports Purchase College’s mission of providing “greater equity and access to all members of the campus community,” with a focus on inclusive education, community development, and student success.

The same senate page identifies the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as formerly known as the Affirmative Action Committee.

A Purchase College diversity plan, titled “Strengthening Inclusive Excellence,” also includes an “Affirmative Action and Equity Model.” The model lists “affirmative action,” “compositional diversity,” “race-sensitive admissions,” and discrimination complaints among its main areas.

Purchase lists Maurice Nelson as chief diversity officer, Title IX coordinator, Title VI coordinator, ADA/504 coordinator, EIT officer, and affirmative action officer on its diversity events page. The school also lists Shannon Woolard as a civil rights compliance investigator and an assistant affirmative action officer.

The institution’s civil rights language says Purchase provides equal educational opportunity, employment, and access to services, programs, and activities without regard to several classifications, including race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military status, domestic violence victim status, and criminal conviction.

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