Elliot Steeves-
Gustavus Adolphus College has committed itself to a mission of fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) on campus.
“Gustavus believes its mission of preparing students for lives of leadership and service can only be realized through a campus culture of inclusion,” reads the Gustavus Website. Their long-standing commitment to furthering DEIB is also reflected in embracing and celebrating uniqueness.
Gustavus’ commitment to diversity ranges amongst several on-campus institutions, according to the website. This includes the Board of Trustees and Presidential Task Forces, which trickles all the way down to individual student action. It is a series of efforts completed with ongoing intentionality and focus across campus.
“Our departments work very closely with Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Doug Thompson on these endeavors,” Director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence Thomas Flunker said. “I, for example, am also involved on the President’s Council. Depending on what areas we are dealing with, I have a hand in things that happen on campus.”
“We strive to foster an environment where people can be themselves, build community, and grow,” Doug Thompson said. “We’re committed to cultivating a welcoming community where everyone feels a sense of belonging.”
Currently, the college is fostering an emphasis on the “Belonging” portion of this initiative. This is something that has a lot of flexibility depending on the needs of the area of the college.
“There are a lot of different caveats, such as a work environment where people want to be here, retention, and seeing Gustavus from the outside,” Flunker said. “If I, as a prospective student, am seeing these things highlighted, it is going to be a place that I want to be. It will also be an attractive institution from the outside.”
Belonging also fluctuates per student, and some students need to be reached differently than others.
“Are you reaching everyone in a way that they need to be reached?”, Flunker said. “Not everyone is in the same place. That part of things is more challenging because equity and inclusion are important. This is where you take a look at the needs of the entire institution.”
Thompson has a key quote when it comes to belonging: “Belonging is the outcome of goals and planning that you put into place… To reach the larger population, and have them feel like they belong, that’s when we’re doing some good stuff.”
The Diversity Leadership Council plays another key part in maintaining the DEIB initiative at Gustavus. They are an umbrella organization that encompasses several groups that may sound familiar to Gusties.
“Our meeting is made up of various representatives from different organizations. The Pan-African Student Organization and the Organization for Latin-American Students are two of the groups, along with Building Bridges and the Peer Assistants,” DLC Co-President Hassan Almusawy said.
The DLC abides by four key pillars with how it operates oversight of its different groups. These are Cultural and Ethnic Celebration, Gender and Sexuality Advocacy, Interfaith Partnership, and Political and Social Dialogue.
The DLC’s main focus is to help these organizations grow, particularly with an eye for smaller groups that are starting out.
“We are really focused on growth at a lot of our events. For example, nights like Africa Night and LatinX Night are big for us. They have allowed us to grow as a collective,” Almusawy said. “I think that we are really growing and getting a lot of organizations to collaborate with each other. There is a unique culture to the college as a result.”
A future goal to keep an eye on? The growth of DLC into a leadership organization separate from Student Senate.
“This year, one of our big initiatives is to have a specific fee from the college for organizations under the DLC umbrella. We want our own leadership structure similar to the student senate, but for these groups mentioned,” Almusawy said.
There are a number of notable statistics that stand out with regard to diversity and equity at Gustavus Adolphus College. In addition to the presence of 27 DEIB related student organizations, 9% of the student body are first-generation college students.
On the matter of BIPOC students, Gustavus claims an 85% first-year retention rate. Gustavus also has a 21% BIPOC faculty.
Broken down further by demographic, about 20.5% of the Gustavus student body is non-white. A plurality of these students are Hispanic/Latinx (4.9%), Asian American (4%), Multiracial (3.7%), or African American/Black (3.3%). Gustavus also has a broad international student body consisting of 3.7% of campus.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion is hosting an event on Strategies for Fostering Inclusive Campus Communities on September 19th in Cec Eckhoff Alumni Hall from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The event will focus on mitigating the stereotype threat and the imposter phenomenon.
Interested Gustavus students can engage with multiple tools and tips for learning about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. These include film and audio resources on race, inclusion, allyship, anti-racism, gender, disabilities, and implicit bias.
The Diversity Leadership Council meets every Wednesday, from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., in Anderson in room 100. They invite anyone interested in their cause to stop by next Wednesday to check it out!