Last September, Ohio University announced that it had received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award, or the HEED Award, for its fifth consecutive year from the publication INSIGHT Into Diversity. Recognized for its diversity and inclusion efforts, the announcement hit students’ emails the week of Jan. 17, leaving many surprised.
“That's kind of strange to me,” Amy Szmik, a senior studying journalism, said. “I will say they've definitely stepped up their efforts since last year, but as a person of color on campus, and as someone who's part of an (organization), … I feel like OU doesn't really put enough effort into actually showing that they genuinely care.”
According to the INSIGHT Into Diversity website, the HEED Award “annually recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
In order to be up for contention, institutions must apply for the award, which contains multiple choice and essay sections, which are also found on their website.
“Each year we start from scratch with the schools in the sense that we want to see forward momentum and growth and that the school is continuing to add different efforts, different programs, looking at their data and always trying to strive to move forward and do better,” Holly Mendelson, the co-publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity, said.
Mendelson says that the publication also does not compare universities’ diversity and inclusion programs or success rates.
“We don't really compare schools to each other,” Mendelson said. “Every school stands on its own merits, and the reason for that is because we might be looking at a small private college in the Northeast versus a large research institution in a state that's very red. Where they're located is going to be different, their size is going to be different, how many students they take in-state versus out-of-state, if they're public, if they're private, so we really judge each school based on its own merit.”
Dayna Shoulders, a senior studying management and strategic leadership and the president of Student Senate, says that the HEED Award has proven signs of improvement on campus in terms of diversity.
“The first time I heard about us receiving the HEED was actually at the Presidential Student Inclusive Excellence Cabinet meeting,” Shoulders said. “I was very excited to hear that only because it's nice to know that our school is being recognized for all their improvements towards D&I (diversity and inclusion).”
Meanwhile, Szmik, a general body member of the Asian-American Pacific Islander Student Union, says that there still needs to be more improvement on campus, especially after racially motivated attacks that occurred last spring.
“I know they are stepping up more, but I also feel like, especially after some of those really horrible racist attacks happened, … those Black students were targeted by their race,” Szmik said. “I feel like the university just sent out something and then never done anything about that even though those kids were straight up harassed and assaulted.”
Shoulders also says that the university needs to do more, but is hopeful that there will be more progress made in the future.
“Do I think we're anywhere near perfect?” Shoulders asked. “No. Do I think we're ever going to be perfect in the next two years? No, but I think we are a lot closer than when I was a first-year student.”
While students are eager to see more advocacy of diversity and inclusion on campus, Mendelson says that acknowledging universities across the nation for their efforts – even if they aren’t near perfect – is important.
“We think it's important for schools to continue to strive to be diverse and inclusive, for that to be part of their branding and what they represent and for the people who are doing that work to have the light shone on them because they're doing critically important work and they have to work with everybody in all different areas on the campus,” Mendelson said.
Yet, what many students wonder is if the university actually cares about the importance of continued growth.
“I will say as a whole it's not doing great, but I've had professors who are great at really pushing for diversity and inclusion,” Szmik said. “Being diverse, using inclusive language … but I would say overall, like the institution as a whole I don't really feel cares.”
