The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to shut its doors
By Mackenzie Clark
The college administration has passed down the decision to close the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI). Despite the closure, administrators want students to know that their top priority is still student success.
Plans to replace the office are still in the works, but the administration envisions a less centralized approach to diversity on campus. Rather than detaining the ODEI in one room, the Board has assigned Carmaletta Williams, former executive director of ODEI and current English professor, Dennis Day, vice president of student services, and Judy Korb, executive vice president of human resources, workforce, community, and development, the duty of reforming the program.
“It’s a little bit of a misnomer that it’s closing because we are looking to change the direction of it and the goal is not to diminish the value of diversity and our diversity initiatives,” Korb said. “The goal is to actually be able to create more of a culture where diversity is disseminated throughout the organization.”
Terry Calaway, college president, shares a different view of the decision.
“People may not always agree, but the reality is our concern is about student success and I think there were some things that we were missing,” Calaway said. “Part of our goal all along in creating diversity efforts within the institution were about creating better opportunities for students, and creating opportunities for students involved all with diverse backgrounds…to be successful.”
Calaway said though ODEI is closing, diversity efforts will continue at the college.
“You will see a diversity effort within the institution, but it will be very much centered around students and student success,” Calaway said. “Somewhere along the line we lost that student focus.”
Williams has a personal connection to the ODEI and is saddened to see it go.
“I have made a major investment emotionally, intellectually, and physically into the ODEI,” Williams said. “If the Board thinks that because we have such a successful center for diversity then other people around campus don’t feel an obligation to support diversity or engage in it and develop diversity programs. So not having this central space then, they feel, would make more people across campus feel obligated to engage more in diversity work.”
Williams would like her students to know that she will still be on campus when she is needed.
Susan McGarvey, administrative assistant at ODEI, declined to comment.
Updates will follow in forthcoming issues.
Contact Mackenzie Clark, features editor, at mclark68@jccc.edu.
Rachel Kimbrough, editor-in-chief, contributed to this article.