Nick Shiach
Contributing Writer
On Jan. 24, students participating in the Galpin Call-in were able to secure an extra $20,000 for the budget of the Center for Diversity of Inclusion (CDI) in the present semester. In the time since, the CDI has been considering how to spend this new allocation in the remaining months of the semester.
According to Shadra Smith, the associate dean of the CDI, the funds budgeted to the CDI as a result of the demands raised during the sit-in will be spent with students in mind.
“The funding will be used to support student-focused programming, as well as other efforts centered around our unit mission,” Smith said.
Since the administration did not provide specific guidelines on how to spend the money, “the decisions are driven by the feedback received from students,” Smith said. Every branch within the CDI will have access to the new funds.
Although every part of our campus will bear responsibility for some aspect of the changes resulting from the Call-in, the CDI was featured prominently in the Call-in’s List of Demands. In addition to the call for increased funding for CDI programming, the demands also called on the College to let the CDI determine the curriculum for cultural competency training for students and faculty.
Smith thanked the students who took part in the effort to secure more funding for the CDI. “We definitely appreciate the students recognizing our work and additional funds help our decision-making process due to requests we receive from students and faculty departments,” she said.
Smith also commended President Sarah Bolton’s efforts.
“President Bolton has been an awesome partner by not only valuing our mission goals, but also including myself and other CDI staff members in campus-wide decisions related to student success and satisfaction,” Smith said.
In addition to overseeing the CDI’s use of these new funds with Bolton, Smith was also named as the “point person” who will oversee changes to the College’s Title IX and cultural competency training for incoming students and student leaders, the College’s policies and response to reports of discrimination and the Campus Climate Survey being conducted every two years.
Smith also served as co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Planning Group (DEISPG). According to Smith, DEISPG’s work had already resulted in a staff increase for the CDI, as detailed by its Strategic Plan released in Au