On April 12, Case Western Reserve University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) held their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Town Hall with Vice President for Student Affairs Travis Apgar and Vice President of the new Office for Campus Enrichment and Engagement Robert L. Solomon.
During the hour-long town hall meeting, Apgar and Solomon answered curated questions drafted by USG members and responded to a short Q&A session with the 10 students in attendance. The topics discussed revolved around the recent closure of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement and subsequent establishment of the Office for Campus Enrichment and Engagement, the national news of student visas being terminated and concerns about federal funding and the fiscal impact on the university.
During the section of the town hall covering DEI, Solomon said, “I hope everyone understands that [the closing of the DEI office] was not and never has been the desire of this university.”
Solomon continued to explain the structure and goals of the new office. “The challenge that we have based on what the Department of Education has outlined, is that we cannot engage in targeted efforts of specific populations based upon race, religion, national heritage, etc.” he said. “Our mission, which you see from the new website, is enriching our campus life through building community, active engagement, mindful learning and transformative dialogue.”
He also acknowledged how the closing of the Office for DEI Engagement impacted its original staff. “When the office closed, that meant that every member of that staff was laid off,” he noted. Staff of the office included individuals who had worked at CWRU for more than 20 years and student workers.
One student worker, who requested to remain anonymous, said in a statement to The Observer, “As a student worker in the former DEI office, I found out about the closing of the office through the email sent out by President Kaler on March 26. I felt very blindsided by the message and feel like it would have been nice to have been informed by the university in advance.”
Additionally, it was noted in an article by Ideastream that DEI scholarships have been removed from the College of Arts and Sciences website.
It also appears that employee training at CWRU has shifted focus, highlighting the loss of DEI. “This year’s annual compliance training for employees was bittersweet. It focused on hiring and employment and to me really demonstrated how CWRU prioritizes equitable and inclusive practices to make sure that any and every applicant has an equal opportunity for a job,” an anonymous university employee said. “However, many links for additional information are now broken, including ones that pointed to resources on the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity’s website. I would like to know that our priorities and these practices will stay the same even when offices change.”
Solomon also mentioned the cancellation of Envision Weekend, a program designed to prepare incoming first-year students from underrepresented minorities for university life by “providing educational workshops, engaging panel discussions, and community-building activities before the start of the academic year.” He stated that the office is looking to implement a similar, broader jump-start program in the following years.
During the open Q&A session, more information was revealed, including that Diversity 360, one of the Discover Week programs, will be removed from the 2025 Discover Week schedule. On the now-removed website, Diversity 360 was listed as a “campus-wide diversity education program for students, faculty, and staff.” The program was developed to assist students, faculty and staff in learning how to “[i]ncrease capacity to recognize and engage in dialogue across the breadth of differences,” “[d]eepen understanding of how affiliations in privileged and marginalized groups impact treatment on campus,” and “[d]eepen awareness of types of microaggressions and how they affect experiences on campus and in the local community.”
Regarding Discover Week programs, Apgar made it clear that the “sexual assault prevention training” will still be in place for the incoming first-years.
Apgar also reiterated that the LGBT Center and the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women do not have any planned changes. “They’re part of Student Affairs, and at this time, we don’t anticipate there’ll be changes to those centers … They work across students, faculty, staff to offer programs and education and support. And so, we anticipate that we’ll continue to do that,” Apgar noted. “I will go back to my earlier disclosure: Everyday brings a new challenge.”