In an era of increased social visibility for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, some universities have remained steadfast to these programs, while others have favored keeping race and individuals’ identities out of college admissions.
In an email conversation with the Daily Emerald, some University of Oregon officials said that UO had already been in compliance with “race-neutral” admissions long before the 2023 Supreme Court reversal of affirmative action in college admissions.
While some states — such as Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia — have begun to pursue DEI bans and legislation that aim to remove funding from “divisive concepts,” UO Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh said that while the university has not come under direct attack from anti-DEI legislation, it has still been forced to adapt to “broader issues.”
After the Supreme Court ruling in June 2023 banning affirmative action, Alex-Assensoh said she worked with others in the OVPEI, UO General Counsel and the Office of Admissions to help adjust the UO admissions process to ensure the university was fully complying with the ruling.
In an email statement to the Emerald, Erin Hays, UO associate vice president of student services and enrollment management and director of admissions, said that prior to the Supreme Court ruling, UO was already in compliance with the ruling because they use a “race-neutral” admissions policy, citing the University’s “holistic review” process.
This means that students are not compared to one another, but rather independently reviewed for admission.
“Although we knew our process was already in compliance, our holistic review process was in need of some updates over the summer,” Hays said in an email statement to the Emerald.
This suggests that the work with the general counsel was to ensure that updates made to the holistic review process were in compliance with the new federal law, meaning that UO was never reliant on the affirmative action process to begin with.
Hays clarified that the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action was not the initiator of these updates but that legal counsel was sought to make sure any changes complied with the new ruling.
One broader DEI issue facing the OVPEI, according to Alex-Assensoh, includes addressing the rising tensions on college campuses nationwide amidst the Israel-Hamas war.
Alex-Assensoh said that the OVPEI does not handle or rule on complaints of antisemitism or Islamophobia, but rather serves as a resource for redirecting victims of harassment to the proper resources.
When approaching the Israel-Hamas war, Alex-Assensoh emphasized the role of the institution to “help people feel the humanity of others.”
To do this Alex-Assenoah said she is using her L.A.C.E (Love, Authenticity, Courage, Empathy) framework. This framework, developed and copyrighted by Alex-Assensoh, is aimed at facilitating a “love-based” approach towards conflicts.
“There’s just a whole bunch of research that suggests that we can have people as far away apart as ideologically,” she said, “but if we approach them with a spirit of humanity and love that we can actually reach common ground.”
During winter term, the OVPEI team piloted two different training sessions for DEI office employees. One was spearheaded by retired UO DEI employee Tova Stabin, aimed at dismantling antisemitism.
The other was a “pilot workshop for DEI colleagues” hosted by Lobna Ismail. According to Alex-Assensoh, her office aims to have the training available to deans, new faculty and other administrators by the end of the summer.
The training will also be made available to student organizations and any student who wants access at a later date, though it was now clear how the training would be made available.
Alex-Assensoh said that she feels fortunate to work and live in a state that is currently supportive of DEI initiatives.
“We have fortunately, in Oregon, not had to defend ourselves against those kinds of attacks,” Alex-Assensoh said. “Are we concerned about the broader issues of the ways in which these kinds of legislations are impacting other states? Yes.”
Amidst the nationwide controversy of the future of DEI programs such as the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, CMAE Director Rosa Chavez also said she feels grateful to live in a state where DEI initiatives are not being actively attacked.
“I think luckily, because we are in Oregon, I don’t feel like that impact,” Chavez said. “I feel very, very grateful that we live in our state and I work at UO where I feel like people understand the importance of the work we do.”
President of the UO Black Male Alliance Desi Acuay also said he feels appreciative of how UO values its DEI programs.
“It’s definitely cool for us people of color to have a spot at the table,” Acuay said. “At the table where power and decisions are made. [It] says the minority can’t just be overlooked.”
Acuay said that he is hopeful for the future of DEI, saying that DEI is institutionalized at UO, which in Acuay’s opinion will make it “hard to remove.”
“America has always had this shift of pendulum,” Alex-Assensoh said. “We want to be equitable, and then we don’t want to be equitable and [right] now we’re swinging toward that we [as a country] don’t want to be equitable.”
Members of the UO South Asian Cultural Alliance Ronit Gupta and Khushi Singh both said they have a desire for more culture-related classes, including “ South Asian culture and tradition and geographical information.”
Gupta and Singh said that UO could improve DEI by offering these classes.
Both Gupta and Singh said they overall felt very supported from a DEI standpoint at UO, and confident in UO’s ability to protect their DEI programs amidst nationwide pushback
“It’s definitely unnerving to hear about other states doing that [removing DEI programs],” Singh said. “But I don’t think that that would happen in Oregon just because of how strong the state’s values are, and here specifically at the university.”
Despite the current nationwide push for removing DEI programs, Alex-Assensoh still has optimism for the future ahead.
“I don’t think this is who we are as a country. I would say that this is a momentary blitz,” Alex-Assensoh said. “The arc of time bends long, but it bends toward justice.”
