BUZZ
‘It can be damaging to all of a sudden have your life’s work removed, devalued’
Hundreds of college diversity officers met in Philadelphia on March 26 for the conference “Reclaiming ‘We the People’: Democracy and the Renewal of Higher Education,” which sought to “plot a path forward in the face of ongoing federal scrutiny.”
The approximately 800 attendees of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education conference began with a moment of silence for “those who had been forced out of their jobs and for offices and programs that had been shut” since President Trump began his second term, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Many complained about the effects of the federal DEI crackdown.
Association founder Archie Ervin said the Trump administration “has done a lot of damage to DEI,” and chided higher ed institutions for succumbing to federal pressure.
Former inaugural UPenn Graduate School of Education Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Raquel Arredondo (a title later changed to “Assistant Dean of Climate and Community”) said “It can be damaging to all of a sudden have your life’s work removed, devalued.”
Arredondo added the conference offers “invaluable support” to professionals in the field who feel “very isolated.”
A “highly sought after speaker” who worked to “create inclusive and equitable policies and procedures and implement learning and development to enhance cultural competencies and increase global mindset,” Arredondo left UPenn last summer to helm a consulting firm.
Association President Emelyn dela Peña (pictured) said colleagues have left higher ed “because it’s been hard.” She noted a shift from “culture-focused” work to that “shaped by legal interpretations and risk management and policy alignment.”
Barnard College Vice President for Inclusion and Belonging Akilah Rosado said new federal policy has “creat[ed] a divide in the dialogue” and that “people are afraid to talk.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, managed to get shoehorned into the conversation; Derrick Crim of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Metro State University said his school, which has “a lot of immigrant students,” was “not prepped” about procedures dealing with ICE.
Dela Peña informed conference participants that some who had planned to attend the gathering opted against it out of fear of ICE, as its agents recently were deployed to airports across the country, including Philadelphia.
“Rooted in Mission and Values,” the association’s new guidebook, claims that “at this moment, the pursuit of fairness and equity in higher education is not simply under scrutiny; it is being actively contested.”
The guide states it is “for those who understand that fairness, opportunity, and access must remain
nonnegotiable, even — and perhaps most especially — when they are under attack.”
MORE: Anti-DEI efforts rooted in ‘white male Christian supremacy’: UC Berkeley professor
