Miller (center, seated) with the staff of Central Michigan University's Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. (Photo courtesy of Central Michigan University.)
MANY ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS are drafting
statements that promote diversity, equity,
and inclusion (DEI), but by their nature,
these statements are very idealistic and
aspirational. For that reason, I don’t think
any school completely fulfills its diversity
statement. What’s important is that
everyone is engaged, everyone is a stakeholder,
and everyone makes the effort.
That’s our approach at Central
Michigan University (CMU) in Mount
Pleasant, where our nondiscrimination
statement highlights 24 types of human
difference. With so many attributes to
consider, we want to make sure everyone
is working to promote DEI. That’s
why, as of July 1, 2019, we started to ask
all employees at CMU to report their
activities in DEI during their annual
performance reviews.
In addition, we have mobilized the
University Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Council, which includes representatives
from each academic unit on
campus. Each unit must have at least
three DEI initiatives a year, and their
progress will be measured and reported
every June 30th. Last July, our academic
units launched 68 diversity initiatives.
We want everyone to be responsible
for making CMU’s community
more welcoming and inclusive for all.
Our comprehensive approach can be
illustrated in how we address challenges
faced by two marginalized populations,
specifically: the LGBTQ community and
the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
SUPPORTING LGBTQ
Everyone seeks out an environment
where they feel a sense of belonging,
but the LGBTQ community has unique needs. Unlike people in other marginalized
groups, very few members of the
LGBTQ community come from LGBTQ
families; in some cases, the family
dynamic can be very fraught. This is different
from other identities, where one’s
immediate family is a source of cultural
support or knowledge.
Tragically, many LGBTQ individuals
have become used to being socially
excluded—especially transgender
students, whose gender identity can
be in a state of transition that others
don’t understand. We want to help them
develop a sense of confidence—what’s
often referred to as “pride”—so that they
can be fully themselves.
There isn’t one way to be LGBTQ—
different people have different needs—so
we deliberately offer a variety of modes
of service. For example, when I first
arrived, a committee was just finishing
its work on adopting a new name policy,
so that people can use their preferred
names. We want to have allies on campus
who are trained in working with this
group. We also do symbolic activities
such as recognize important days: Last
November, we recognized Transgender
Remembrance Day, and in June, we
flew the Pride flag on our main campus
flagpole for the first time.
We have an Office of LGBTQ Services
that offers a number of programs, as well
as several groups that students can join
to find community. Some groups are
confidential and anonymous, because
some students are not ready to be public
with their identities or social situations.
Finally, we recognize that our attention
to LGBTQ issues should be more
than extracurricular. We also must give
serious consideration to queer studies as
an academic area of expertise. Currently,
CMU’s program in women and gender
studies draws faculty from other disciplines who teach in the department as
a secondary appointment. The university
is about to advertise a position for
a scholar in feminist and queer theory
who also will help build the department,
and we plan eventually to hire additional
faculty with LGBTQ+ expertise.
CONNECTING TRIBE AND TOWN
CMU is located in a region with a
significant Native American population—
specifically, members of the
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe (SCIT).
SCIT includes more than 3,000 citizens,
and its tribal government is located in
Mount Pleasant. Given the university’s
proximity to this population, we sponsor
many “tribe-town-gown” events in order
to make tribal customs and culture a
more integral part of our campus.
For example, in early June, we jointly
sponsor an annual “Honoring, Healing,
and Remembering” event led by the
tribe to commemorate the Indian
Industrial Boarding School, which did
so much harm in its attempt to force
Native American children to assimilate
to Western culture. We hold large public
powwows on CMU’s campus in March,
similar to those that the SCIT holds on
its tribal powwow grounds in July.
This year, for the first time, our commencement
ceremony featured a traditional
smudge blessing from a prominent
member of the Tribal Council. At
CMU, we also have added to most of our
events what is called a land acknowledgement,
a statement that recognizes
indigenous people as the original stewards
of the land and acknowledges their
traditional territories. We have started
displaying the SCIT flag on occasions
and had the tribe represented among the
flag bearers on Veterans Day.
Many of our students do internships
with various tribal entities, such as the
SCIT’s health system, education system,
and after-school programs, as well as
the Ziibiwing Center, the tribe’s beautiful
museum and cultural center. Our
researchers also work on joint projects
with tribal members. For example, our
archeology program has been doing
extensive work at the site of the Indian
school—in 2018, we successfully
petitioned to have it recognized as a
national historic site. And because SCIT
representatives are especially interested
in the impacts of addiction on the Native
American community, we hold a joint
Opioid Summit, now in its third year.
Recently, the tribe won a significant
grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration.
This grant will support a project
in which our faculty will work with local public schools and tribal schools to
study childhood trauma caused by the
nation’s opioid crisis.
Members of the University Diversity
and Inclusion Council currently meet
quarterly with SCIT representatives
to explore additional opportunities. I
recently spoke with the director of the
Ziibiwing Center about preparing a joint
proposal to the National Endowment for
the Humanities, producing a video about
the SCIT community to show to incoming
students, and creating closer articulation
agreements between the Saginaw
Chippewa Tribal College and CMU.
BUILDING BRIDGES
Our initiatives that serve the LGBTQ+
community and SCIT illustrate our
larger effort to help everyone on campus
develop the skills to work across any
human difference. Are the members
of our community open to alternative
viewpoints? Can they listen? Can they
express themselves honestly? Can they
empathetically consider other people’s
views? If everyone is willing and able to
treat others with a fundamental level of
curiosity and respect, and view human
differences as sources from which to
learn and grow, we believe it doesn’t
matter what differences they’re trying
to bridge.
With that idea in mind, we started
a program called Conversations That
Matter in 2018. These are conversations
over dinner about divisive topics. We’ve
held one conversation about abortion;
another was about gun rights and public
safety. Everybody has come away saying,
“I can’t believe I was able to sit and talk
with people I profoundly disagree with.
I recognize that they’re people and that
we can learn from each other.”
The point is not to change anyone’s
views, but to have these conversations in
which everyone makes the effort to understand
different perspectives. In the
end, all of us fall into one or more categories
of diversity, whether because of age,
gender, race, sexual orientation, ability,
or political affiliation. That means that
our DEI efforts don’t just serve marginalized
groups—they serve us all.
A.T. Miller is chief diversity officer at
Central Michigan University in Mount
Pleasant. Miller also shares his personal
experience with diversity in "Diverse Voices, Personal Stories."
Read CMU’s diversity statement or find a link to the DEI initiatives launched by each unit at CMU.
This article originally appeared in BizEd's March/April 2020 issue. Please send questions, comments, or letters to the editor to [email protected].
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Diverse Voices, Personal Stories