Following promises from President Donald Trump’s administration to “terminate DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] in the federal government,” Keene State’s DEI Commission met to discuss plans to fight back against attacks and maintain their work in advancing diversity initiatives.
Dottie Morris, associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, spoke about the state legislature’s request to the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) campuses to publish how much is being spent on DEI.
“I know [KSC President Melinda Treadwell] has instructed us all to wait and see what they want because they [the USNH trustees and the state legislature] are not being clear … We don’t know what they want us to include,” Morris said.
Morris added that the University of New Hampshire (UNH) had already sent over the amount they had spent on DEI and that the number included programs such as disability services.
“Very few of our programs are group-specific and so I think that’ll be the argument that we will use that any student, faculty and staff can attend any programs,” Morris explained.
Morris mentioned the Outstanding Women of New Hampshire Awards could be at risk, given that the award is exclusively given to women.
“We’re just moving forward, and we continue to do the work until we’re told otherwise … I really do think that we can justify the work that we’re doing,” Morris said.
Morris explained another item on the table for change is her title.
“I have a philosophical reason why I don’t want it to change and I have a practical [reason] and I understand why, because I did push really hard back,” Morris said.
Morris said the USNH schools were also asked to form a committee to root out “illegal” or “discriminatory” programs concerning DEI.
Jiwon Ahn, a commission member and associate professor of film, said following the federal order allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on campuses, she now carries documentation with her in case of potential racial profiling.
“After our conversation yesterday, I actually dug out my passport and my permanent residence [document]; now I carry these all the time,” Ahn said.
Ahn said her son also expressed the desire to have his passport on his person from now on.
“I cannot afford to be taken away from my teaching and life for days because I don’t carry this [passport],” Ahn said.
Ahn said this was her way of dealing with the immediate threat posed by DEI attacks, adding there also needs to be a long-term plan formulated to tackle the issue.
Morris also talked about the recent memo released by KSC instructing campus community members on what to do in the event of ICE raids.
The memo instructs staff to not comply with warrants or subpoenas before contacting USNH legal counsel, as well as asking staff to not release student records unless subpoenaed to do so.
Michael Brown, a commission member and assistant director of transitions, added to the discussion around potential renamings.
“We could be the janitorial commission because we’re trying to clean up the s*** of this [Trump] administration,” Brown said.
Nina Zienkiewicz, the commission’s events chair, said she added the commission to OwlNet so the group can formally post events on the site.
Zienkiewicz also noted she applied for a PepsiCo grant to hold a multicultural fair in April but added she would likely hold the event regardless of receiving the funding or not.
Ian Kaplan, coordinator of LGBTQ+ student support and community outreach chair, said the subcommittee has planned two projects: Creating a glossary of KSC terms for new students and creating a list of civic engagement flyers for the campus.
Rodney Obien, head of special collections and archives and curriculum chair, said the group was working on compiling a list of courses related to DEI through KSC’s college-wide learning outcomes initiative to include multicultural perspectives in courses.
Morris spoke about the personal nature of the continued attacks on DEI.
“How do we take care of ourselves in a way that we can continue to do the work?” Morris said.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
