College diversity initiatives funded
Universities to get about $2.5M a year
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is putting its money where its mouth is.
During an event Wednesday at Kutztown University, one of the 14 state-owned schools that make up the system, PASSHE and state government officials announced that the system will be spending $2.5 million in the upcoming school year to launch diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The move is in large part the result of student activism.
In August, an article appeared
in The Philadelphia Inquirer that featured a handful of PASSHE students of color talking about harassment and unfair treatment they experienced at PASSHE schools.
Other students rallied behind those in the article, organizing and calling for systemwide changes.
By October, the End Campus Racism Coalition had formed, a group which would craft a list of student demands the system’s new diversity, equity and inclusion effort is based on.
That list goes by the acronym ENOUGH:
• End racial harassment and speech.
• Nurture and retain students of color.
• Organize an incident reporting system.
• Unveil mandatory diversity training.
• Generate more mental health resources.
• Hire more faculty and staff of color.
Officials from PASSHE and the system’s schools were on board. In April the PASSHE Board of Governors approved a diversity,
equity and inclusion strategy that built off the coalition’s work.
But to turn that strategy into a reality, state Sen. Art Haywood said, it would take money.
“Freedom isn’t free,” said the Democrat who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties.
Haywood has played a critical role in the efforts to address racial and social injustice on PASSHE campuses, working with the coalition, PASSHE and his colleagues in Harrisburg. On Wednesday he was pleased to make a big announcement.
“I don’t have a check from the general assembly,” he joked.
But he did come to Kutztown bearing news of the state’s additional financial investment in PASSHE, and PASSHE’s decision to spend $2.5 million of that funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The money being dedicated to that purpose is part of $50 million in COVID relief funds that the state has given the system for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The plan is for PASSHE to spend $2.5 million for diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives each of the next three years.
Overall, the state has pledged $200 million in COVID relief dollars to the system of the next four years.
Details about how, exactly, the diversity, equity and inclusion funding will be appropriated is expected to be unveiled by PASSHE in October.
“We are engaged in deep conversations about what the next steps look like, and we’re linking arms across the state system with university leadership, faculty, staff, and students to achieve these goals,” PASSHE Vice Chancellor Dr. Denise Pearson said. “We’re collecting data. We’re studying it closely. We’re putting together the means necessary to carry out our goals.”
Haywood said the investment is proof that the entire PASSHE system is dedicated to creating an environment conducive to learning for all students, adding that the job has not yet been completed.
“I recognize that what’s won can be lost, therefore, much work remains to ensure that the changes are made, monitored and reported,” he said. “Nevertheless,
I am pleased and proud that we helped contribute to this historic victory.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank, who sits on the PASSHE Board of Governors, shared
a similar sentiment.
“If we truly mean it when we say our mission is to provide a great education at an affordable price, it’s paramount that we cre