DEI Action Plan

Moravian University Position Statement

Moravian University is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and a process that draws on our community’s collective expertise, including but not limited to faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, and board of trustees. The development and implementation of this process intended to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion on our campus and beyond in more deliberate, measurable, and meaningful ways.

Moravian University aspires to be a welcoming community that embraces and values the diversity of all members of the campus community. We strive to accept the uniqueness of all individuals, and we cultivate an environment that respects, affirms, and defends the dignity of each member of our community.

Statement of Commitment

Moravian University adheres to all federal and state civil rights laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination in private institutions of higher education. The University does not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, student, or applicant for admission on the basis of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, sex, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, pregnancy, familial status, marital status, citizenship status, veteran/military status, disability status, or any other protected category under applicable local, state, or federal law, including protections for those opposing discrimination or participating in any grievance process on campus, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or other human rights agencies.

We strive to build partnerships with faculty, staff, students, and community members so that we may serve as liaisons and advocates to meet our diverse population’s needs, support each individual, and celebrate the richness of a diverse campus community.

Immediate Actions

In our efforts to demonstrate our commitment to these shared values, we are working on identifying immediate and long-term actions. The following is a select list of initiatives in process or already agreed upon.

Expanded Diversity Office: Support the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with sufficient resources for success.
Strategic Plan: Work with Credo and the Strategic Planning Committee to develop a long-term University diversity action plan that has an implementation plan with data-driven metrics. Equity and Inclusion are significant components of the next Strategic Plan.
- The Plan will engage the entire campus community, including alums and other stakeholders. The Vice President and Dean for Equity and Inclusion will lead this effort.
Enhanced and Continued Police Training: Complete Moravian Police training plan with body cameras, de-escalation strategies, non-racial descriptors, and continued cultural sensitivity training. Hold monthly meetings with students to listen to community issues.
- Continue pursuing transparency and best practices in policing. Work with campus safety leadership in communicating their efforts at improving training and campus relationships.
Enrollment: Create an Enrollment diversity action plan that includes recruitment, retention, and equity-promoting efforts. This plan is already in process and is led by the enrollment team in conjunction with DEI. It includes increasing scholarships for people of diverse backgrounds, developing campus tours and marketing materials in other languages, and having campus tours targeted towards diverse students’ interests.
Increasing Staff and Faculty Diversity: Investigate and adopt best practices for hiring, retaining, and supporting faculty and staff diversity. This process started with ICC’s work, the collaboration with LVAIC, and the work of our DEI colleagues.
- Work to get greater diversity in the Counseling Center and all other offices across campus. This process will require close work between Student Life and DEI.
Diversity Programming and Planning: Continue ongoing conversations on racism, and increase the availability of DEI-related training and programming for students, staff, and faculty.
- DEI will work with the academic division to examine the academic calendar and make recommendations about how better to support diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will collaborate with Institutional Advancement to increase partnerships and planning with historically underrepresented and marginalized alumni.
Evaluations: Explore and adopt best practices regarding DEI and faculty/staff annual evaluations and assessments, including student evaluations of faculty. Our faculty committees have indicated their willingness to participate in the conversations and potential changes.
Curriculum Reform and Program Development: Work with the faculty to build additional programs and courses that meet the diversity, equity, and inclusion needs of our community.
- Work with the General Education committee to purposefully incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into their curriculum revision, and adopt a curriculum that promotes inclusive teaching and anti-racism.
- Work with faculty and students to think about, and then design, other courses that address human rights, diversity, and equity and more accurately recognize minority contributions to fields of knowledge.
- Develop programs and majors that help solve our society’s problems and that prepare students to combat racism and other sources of injustice domestically and globally.
Physical Campus: Design campus spaces and organize college planning to provide greater inclusion, access, safety, support, and visibility for diversity and inclusion. We will be working with FMPC and our DEI colleagues to make our campus more welcoming and accessible.
- Expand the offerings of student artwork beyond the HUB Gallery and Payne Gallery to include indoor and outdoor areas.
Marketing and communication: Develop an improved protocol for campus-wide communications and marketing campaigns.
- Develop the utilization of photographs of students, staff, and faculty in marketing materials and work with DEI on diverse students’ appropriate representations.
- Partner with student organizations (e.g. Black Student Union, Asian Student Union, Latinx Student Union, etc.) to understand how to engage with diverse populations in meaningful ways.
Timeline: Assign DEI proposals to appropriate University departments and offices, and create timelines for progress reports and protocols for transparent reporting.

Appendices to the DEI Draft Action Plan Benchmarking Data

Contents:

Appendix one: This appendix analyzes the data we have on black faculty, staff, and students from 2013 and 2018.
Appendix two: This appendix lists the changes and work done on campus to support diversity efforts, emphasizing that we have not been standing still, even if the impact has not been what we desire.

Appendix One

Diversity data (faculty, staff and students identifying as “Black”)

The data on Black students faculty, and staff, covered three groups, all students enrolled, all full time faculty, and all faculty and staff. We looked at a base year of 2012 (students) or 2013 (faculty and staff) and then the most recent public data year (2018).

The data shows how Moravian University stacks up in % of each population that was Black in the base year to 2018 and what percentage that changed. The five peer groups are LVAIC, Landmark Conference, Centennial Conference, peer group, and aspirant group.

For students, 3.35% of Moravian University students were Black in 2012 and this has fallen to 3.10% in 2018. Our enrollment was 5% Black in fall 2016 and 2017. We of course recommend our Black enrollment to return to 5%, with their retention/graduation rates to be within 5% of the general population. The college has previously achieved that and doing it with a reasonable retention/graduation rate would mean we were serving these students well instead of accepting them and leaving them with debt and no degree.

The FT faculty data compares all 46 schools in these five groups. Their faculties average 4.13% Black. If we were to have that number as a goal, and if we stayed at 163 FT faculty then we would need 7 Black FT faculty to reach this goal. For fall 2020, we have 5 black faculty on staff serving the undergraduate and graduate populations. We recommend increasing this goal to 8%.

When faculty and staff are combined, at Moravian University, we count 20 Black employees for fall 2018 (last public data year) out of 694 total. This is 2.88% Black employees versus the combined 46 peer institutions average of 9.79% Black. The average for LVAIC schools is only 3.02%. Additionally, Moravian University has shown the greatest improvement in the last five years.

According to an article in the Morning Call in 2019 “The country is 60.4% white, down from 62.1% in 2014. Apart from that, the latest national breakdown is: 18.3% Hispanic (of any race), 12.5% black and 5.7% Asian, with Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and multiracial people making up the balance…. The Lehigh Valley, like most urban areas, has a higher portion of minority residents than the state: 36.6% in Lehigh County and 24% in Northampton County.”

Given the make-up of our region, and the reliance on local populations for our student body, we should reasonably be able to improve on the percentage at LVAIC schools to roughly 5% black students, faculty, and staff.

This table shows how many Black employees are needed for each percentage to be achieved if the total stayed steady at 694. An achievable goal might be here: 35 employees and 5% would put us on par with Lafayette to be the best in the Valley.

If 694 Employees

3%	21
4%	28
5%	35
6%	42
7%	49
8%	56
9%	62
10%	69

For the full range of comparison for black faculty and staff and students across colleges and conferences, view the Peer Comparisons tab.

Summary comparison of faculty hiring and student enrollment

LVAIC:

Moravian leads this group in the percentage of change in hiring black faculty from 2013-2018.
Moravian: Is about average in this group for enrolling black students, with a slight decline in 2018.

Landmark:

Moravian leads this group in the percentage of change in hiring black faculty from 2013-2018.
Moravian: lags in this group for enrolling black students, with a slight decline in 2018.

Centennial:

Moravian is the second most improved in this group in the percentage of change in hiring black faculty from 2013-2018.
Moravian: Is about average in this group for enrolling black students, with a slight decline in 2018.

Peer:

Moravian leads this group in the percentage of change in hiring black faculty from 2013-2018.
Moravian: Is near the bottom in this group for enrolling black students, with a slight decline in 2018.

Aspirant:

Moravian leads this group in the percentage of change in hiring black faculty from 2013-2018.
Moravian: lags in this group for enrolling black students, with a slight decline in 2018.

Appendix Two

This is not a complete list but represents the work done on behalf of diversity just prior to and during the Vision 2020 Strategic plan.

2013-2014 Academic Year

Created Center for Intercultural Advancement (2 people for a total of .8 FTE because of other duties and responsibilities) - .4 person 1, .4 person 2)
More robust training for Residence Life Student staff began this year in August 2013.
1st annual Welcome Back BBQ open to everyone on campus and sponsored by the Center.
Founding of SOAR scholarship/s (funded by DEI) to explore an area of diversity, inclusion and/or social justice.
Lunch and Learn programs begin with offices and other student organizations.
Co-Sponsorship for first time a Women’s History Month with AAUW.
On November 13, 2013, a group of about 12 students met with Mr. Reed Raymond ‘74, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia as part of a Leadership Development Visiting Series. The group traveled to Philadelphia where they participated in a half-day job shadowing program with Mr. Raymond and many members of his team. The program, designed specifically for Moravian University students, focused on diversity in the workplace, the history of the Federal Reserve, and a tour of the facility. The students were fortunate to visit on a day when two Tuskegee Airmen gave a presentation to the bank about their experiences in the Air Force. The highlight of the day was the students’ opportunity to interview Mr. Raymond about his professional journey as well as his time at Moravian.
For the first time, In January a group of eight students traveled to Washington, DC for an African American student leadership conference.
In Spring 2014, Founding of the Black Student Association (started by a group of first year students with support from The Center)
Attendance and support of affinity clubs by Center staff began: AAUW, IDEA, BSA, Middle Eastern Club, Spanish Club, Spectrum, Interfaith Council, and the Dinner, Dessert, & Discussion religious life group meetings.
First Black History Month celebration created by a committee of faculty, staff and students (in previous years it existed, but was not a robust event with significant campus support and attendance) - included a movie hosted by IMPACT (MAC of 2020), a lunch and learn with the English Department on the Harlem Renaissance, a trip to Broadway to see “A Raisin in the Sun” (3 faculty members and 22 students), and concluded with a keynote address for over 400 students by Tim Wise (required for Greek Life and in collaboration with IMPACT).
Commemorations
- In the wake of the passing of former South African president, Nelson Mandela, the Center worked with a team of faculty members to observe his historical international contributions. Working with the PR office and CIT, a number of his speeches were displayed on the information monitors throughout campus on December 6.
- The Center partnered with the education department and the Center for Leadership and Service to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 20, 2014. In collaboration with William Penn Elementary School, over 20 fifth-graders prepared and presented a program during an MLK Community Scholarship Breakfast on campus. Before an audience of Moravian students, faculty, staff, and their parents, who were also invited guests, the children presented a biography of King’s life. At the conclusion of the presentation, two children read their essays on their personal hero. During the lunch hour, several students joined faculty and staff for a panel discussion facilitated by Katie Dantsin reflecting on King’s life and legacy. MLK breakfast continued through 2018.
Bridging the Gap (an idea started at Lehigh and Lafayette) was expanded to all students of LVAIC through the leadership of Moravian University.
End of Year Center for Intercultural Advancement BBQ

2014-2015 Academic Year

A meet the Deans session was added to New Student Orientation in part to highlight Intercultural Advancement.
A more robust diversity session was added to New Student Orientation.
To encourage inclusivity and collaboration, the Center launched a new seed-funding program for student programs. The G.I.V.E. (Grants for Intercultural Values and Enlightenment) Opportunities Initiative at Moravian University (aka "GIVE Grant") strives to build relationships among students and student organizations where the advancement of diversity, inclusion, and social justice is one of the intended outcomes of the program. The proposals are considered by the Student Leadership Council, which is committed to nurturing a learning environment that is inclusive and representative of our diverse communities. Seed-funding grants for up to $250 are available through the GIVE Grant program.
This was the first ROBUST Hispanic Heritage Month celebrated at the University… The Center celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) with a number of events. Observed annually from September 15 to October 15th, HHM celebrates the history, culture, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Our theme for this year’s HHM “Preparing Our Society for 2043” placed a spotlight on the rapidly changing demographics in the United States. Our celebration began with the HHM Kickoff Dinner in the Bahnson Center on September 14th where students enjoyed Latin American cuisine, music, and socialized. The Center worked with the Arts and Lectures Committee, the History Department, the Foreign Languages Department and Career Development on two educational programs during the month. On September 23, Dr. Sandra Aguilar-Rodriguez invited Sarah White ’11 to talk about her experiences in Mexico and the immigration debate. On September 29, Dr. Nilsa Lasso-Von Lang worked with an external speaker to explore the bilingual job market in the United States. Working with the Office of International Studies and the Spanish Club, the Center provided an opportunity for students to participate in a bus trip to New York City for Flamenco dancing, shopping in Midtown, and a New York Red Bulls (major league soccer) game on Saturday, October 4. The month will conclude with our keynote presentation from journalist, Maria Hinojosa, on Wednesday, October 8. Ms. Hinojosa will speak to the community about the shift in demographics we are experiencing in the United States as we quickly change to a “majority minority” society according to the US Census. This event will be held in Foy Hall and was cosponsored by each of the LVAIC institutions as well as the Spanish Club and the Arts and Lecture Committee.
Black Student Union was founded (repurposed from BSA)
Homecoming 2014 - This year was the first time that the homecoming parade expanded beyond Greek Life groups. BSU and the Spanish Club (in their inaugural year of participation) took 1st and 2nd place!
First Black Student Union Thanksgiving Dinner, a tradition continued through 2020 the Sunday before Thanksgiving, typically held at the home of a staff member in Student Life.
The Center partnered with the Middle Eastern Club in October to sponsor “Moravian Arabian Night,” which was facilitated on October 23, 2014 in the Root Cellar of The HILL. Approximately 30 students, faculty, and staff participated in a celebration of music, food, and dancing, and Middle Eastern culture through the evening.
Spring of 2015, International Student responsibility was added to Student Life and Center for Intercultural Advancement and Global Inclusion was created. 1 FTE added to the staff.
April 2015 - First SBI/BSU (Society of Black Initiatives/Black Student Union) networking event! The Center for Intercultural Advancement and the Center for Career and Civic Engagement and BSU invited back the SBI (formed in the 1970s) to a networking event on campus that included speed networking sessions, a networking dinner and dessert reception. Over 15 alumni and 34 students participated in this event.
At our Board of Trustees meeting in April 2015, we reported a story on the formation of the Black Student Union Step Team (renamed Rhythm Ryders at a future date). A vision of Alexandria Boyce ’15, the step team formed last spring and has become a “household name” at the University, as they have performed at the Spring Carnival, Homecoming, Midnight Madness, and several women’s basketball games. In late fall, the Center sponsored 12 women to participate in a student-led step weekend retreat.
Members of the staff became trained in restorative practices through the International Institute for Restorative Practices to be able to better facilitate dialogue.

2015-2016 Academic Year

Increase in 2 FTEs in the Center. Addition of an assistant director of Intercultural Advancement and an international support specialist to complement the 1 FTE in Global Inclusion and the .4 FTE in the Associate Dean. What started as .8FTE in Fall 2013 is now 3.4 FTE in Fall 2015.
Created first new student orientation for international students (before the semester began)
Founding of the Saudi Student Club
Creation of robust social media platforms - Facebook, Instagram, twitter and a college webpage supporting DEI initiatives and programs!
Discussion and Support of the Black Lives Matter movement as a priority for BSU and support to attend the Million Man March in Washington DC on Saturday, October 10.
November 2015 “Reflections of Black Men Living in Contemporary America” - a panel discussion in Prosser (that was packed) hosted with the Political Science Department and BSU.
Contributions to Performing Arts Through SOAR The Moravian University Theatre Company presented the production “Exhibit A,” by Sam Weinberg ‘18 and Christopher Shorr on November 58, 2015 in the Arena Theatre. The production is based on Sam’s SOAR project, “Multiculturalism and Stereotype in the Twenty First Century,” which was a program co-sponsored with IA&GI. The play discussed societal expectations of gender; race, disability, and religious influence in the way individuals see themselves. Our office provided contributions to the script and also worked to provide external facilitators to moderate a postproduction discussion at the conclusion of each show.
Founding of the Latino Student Union (now LatinX) in Fall 2015
The Latino Student Union and IA&GI collaborated in Fall 2015 to begin the Cafe Con Leche coffee and discussion series. The first speaker, Mr. Jose Sobrino is the father of Mario Sobrino ‘18 and the CEO and founder of a commercial truck training institution. The purpose of this new speaker series is to provide opportunities for our students to connect with local leaders who have made significant contributions to the local community despite their respective disadvantaged backgrounds.
LSU/BSU Soul Train Party Intercultural Advancement collaborated with the Black Student Union (BSU), Latino Student Union (LSU) and Untitled MU Artists (a.k.a. the Art Club) to coordinate an evening social event that brought together diverse students from the LVAIC institutions together. Over 150 students attended the Soul Train Party including students from Cedar Crest, Lehigh and Lafayette. Students worked together in groups for three weeks to create homemade decorations for the event and collaborated on responsibilities to make the social successful.
On December 13, 2015, a group of several students traveled to St. Aloysuis Church in Pottstown, PA to volunteer for a combined 70 hours at La Virgen de Guadalupe, which is a Mexican holiday and celebration honoring the Virgin Mary. Our students and staff made food and managed the pre and post logistics for the annual, community based celebration.
3rd consecutive trip to DC for the African American Student Leadership Conference in January 2016.
Spring 2016 All Greek Gold Star (meaning required for our entire Greek population) was Black History Month keynote speaker, Dr. James Peterson
Summer of 2016, Creation of Faculty Lunch and Linger Series for faculty/staff of color in the diversity house (bi-weekly in June and July)
Founding of Intercultural Graduation Ceremony.

2016-2017 Academic Year

Grand Opening of Diversity House at 1138 Main Street! Newly renovated 3 story house with card access. Increase in office programming budget to support DEI efforts (largest programming budget in ALL offices in Student Life!) Students and BIPOC faculty and staff assisted with the planning for that space.
Creation of Pride Peer Mentor Program - The Promoting Respect for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (P.R.I.D.E.) initiative is a new peer mentoring program established in the Fall 2016 semester. A total of 10 members of the Class of 2020 were matched with upper-class peer mentors to assist them with the transition to Moravian University.
Founding of Friday Forums: The first Friday Forum was held on Friday, September 30th. The discussion topic “If Black Lives Matter, Does My Life Matter, Too? A Closer Look at the BLM Movement.” 70 people attended in UBC Room.
First gender inclusive bathrooms are identified and labeled as such on campus.
Founding of Kappa Alpha Psi at Moravian University (historically black national fraternity for men)
Greek Life Expansion Application received for group of women interested in Delta Sigma Theta - committee and PC supported; Office of Greek Life contacted Delta Sigma Theta headquarters repeatedly (monthly) until spring 2018 when they indicated not planning to pursue interest at Moravian.
First BRIT (Bias Response and Intervention Team) was created.
SPECTRUM’S Sexuality Table Approximately 30 students gained resources from SPECTRUM at their Sexuality Table on Valentine’s Day. The club offered educational resources to the general student body including information, gender pronoun pins, and engaged with the larger cisgendered population.
Latinx Student Union | Cafe con Leche | “Latinx Women Making History”: LSU continues to be an active club, offering programming for the entire campus to educate and inspire the college community
In response to the political climate towards refugees and immigrants, Moravian hosted an event sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Moravian Clergy titled: Join We All: Welcoming Refugees and Immigrants as Neighbors and Friends

2017-2018 Academic Year

Summer of 2017 and Fall of 2017: Reenvisioning of the BRIT Team. Creation of Posters, Committee, Email, Anonymous Tip Line, Anonymous BRIT report, Training with RAs.
Spring 2018 (Nicole and Jennika led efforts as we had zero FTE in Diversity and Inclusion). Events continued but new events were not created.
Career & Civic Engagement nominated and supervised Tamara Garraway, ‘18 as the Newman Civic Fellow. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides students with training and resources that nurture their assets and passions and help them develop strategies for social change.
Career & Civic Engagement partnered with DEI and BSU to host another student/alumni career event that included 10 alumni and 10 students.
Created Gender Neutral (now Gender Inclusive) housing for first year students. We also changed our entire residential philosophy for upperclass students and all suite style housing (chosen by students) may be designated gender inclusive. Prior to this, nearly all suites were single gender. This was work done in partnership with the President and Vice President of Spectrum with Housing and Student Life.
Summer of 2018: The number of gender Inclusive restrooms increased around campus.

2018-2019 Academic Year

Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hired (2 FTE in DEI)
First DEI Open House as a part of Orientation Weekend
- Dean of DEI led a session at the AIM (Advancing Into Moravian) summer program and also welcomed the community to the Diversity House with an open house just the AIM participants. She and an assistant recruited students to be THRIVE mentees in both sessions, and there was a high number of AIM students who signed up.
The entire division of student life committed to a year-long focus on implicit bias in all of our staff meetings. We took personal assessments, spent time learning about implicit biases and reflecting on how we could be better community members on campus.
RA training included two new components: interactive sessions with Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the Center for Global Education.
Gender Inclusive Community & Safe Zone Training: In partnership with Housing, more intentional work occurred to educate first-year students about the mission and vision for gender inclusive housing. Thirty-one (31) students indicated interest and were individually contacted. From those conversations, 12 students were assigned to the community. In addition, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion coordinated training for the building staff, which consisted of an online course and interactive follow up session.
Extensive Gender Identity Support plan launched in DEI (This consistent, equitable action plan supports students who modify their gender identity expression and want this recognized formally on campus. The policies and procedures we are establishing are designed to encourage a timely, campus-wide response and foster an environment of respect for the student).
Revamp of Presidents Council for Diversity & Inclusion (new charter, check-in points, initiatives), PCDI.
Founding of Faculty “chat and chews” - opportunities for faculty to highlight their work around issues of diversity and inclusion.
Spoken Word event, October 2018: Kavi Ade’s work is based around intersectional identities and social justice. As a Black Transgender Queer artist and activist of Afro & Indigenous Caribbean descent, Kavi bridges the intersections of personal and political identity.
Safe Zone 101 Training for Gender Inclusive Housing | Training the Resident Assistants September 14 | 6:00pm -7:30pm | DEI House An introduction to LGBTQ+ Identities will discuss basic terms and vocabulary, including the distinction between sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Increase your knowledge of general terms & concepts relevant to LGBTQ+ people. Designed specifically for RAs within the gender-inclusive community on campus to provide techniques for recognizing exclusive & inclusive thoughts, attitudes, & behaviors in yourself & others. The Office for DEI is streamlining Safe Zone 101 training for the campus community with a plan to begin facilitating trainings Spring 2019.
Cultural Competency Training Launched January 2019. The Office for DEI offers a series of trainings designed to promote inclusivity and understanding. Our trainings include Safe Zone 101, Race Equity/Implicit Bias, Cultural Relativism and Ability Equity. Each of the trainings is available upon request for offices and departments, in classes at the request of the instructor, and each semester DEI offers community trainings at the DEI House. Participants receive a sticker for completing each training and have a Cultural Competency MoPaw available for display.
Don’t Cancel Class Campaign (borrowed from Career Development initiative), to focus on Implicit Bias or other Culturally based competency training or conversations
Founding of FroNation
Spring 2019 All Greek Gold Star (meaning required for our entire Greek population) was Black History Month keynote speaker, Dr. Jodi Merriday
Celebrate Diversity Month, April 2019 April has been coined Celebrate Diversity Month. The office for DEI will be celebrating the work of diverse authors. Students are invited to receive the book of their choice. The Moravian community will be invited to discuss the value of diverse authors as culture gatekeepers and creators. The Office for DEI is also partnering with the Center for Global Education to create the first ever Pawsport Fair, an interactive and informative event designed to encourage students to learn more about the study abroad experience.
Moravian joined our peer institutions in becoming a member of CEOAction. CEOAction is designed to drive collaborative efforts around diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
DEI begins work to recognize Native American legacy on the land where Moravian University now resides; intended to call it the Office for DEI Native American Legacy Project. (Work on this has been relaunched this year, 2020)
Career & Civic Engagement sponsored and supervised Christopher Antoine, ‘19 as Moravian’s Newman Civic Fellow.
CLIMATE SURVEY: A major goal of PCDI was to partner with the Title IX office and the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to create the faculty and staff Climate Survey to better understand campus trends around matters of DEI and gender equity. The primary role of the PCDI in this was to review the draft of the survey created by the Dean for DEI and Title XI Officer and to provide recommendations. Once this was completed the survey was distributed with a response rate comparable to other institutions (a 38% response rate [272 of 724 solicited] ). This is slightly lower than the response rate for the student survey last year (40%). Importantly, participants were honest about their criticisms of Moravian University as it relates to DEI. The community seems to be pleased with the efforts of the Dean & Assistant Director for DEI; some members of the community identify as conservative and feel that they have been silenced; many are displeased with the demotion of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Uppinder Mehan. Issues of institutional and leadership accountability and fear of retaliation remain important concerns for those who participate. Participants continue to value a campus climate that has the welcoming/family/community feel.

2019-2020 Academic Year

Founding of Mu Sigma Upsilon at Moravian University (multicultural sorority for women)
First Black Lives Matter Protest (sponsored by BSU) held on campus
Peer Mentor Program is renamed as Peer IMPACT (Intersectional Mentoring Promoting Access to Community and Tenacity) and is currently matching 24 incoming students with mentors for the Fall semester
BRIT hosted listening sessions with students, alumni, faculty, and staff in July to begin to understand how the community feels about systemic racism and what steps we can take to begin to change these systems at our College and in our community.
The Asian Student Union becomes established as an affinity club

Moravian University Police (select events and departmental changes)

Friday Forums - Police Chief attended all FF from founding through 2019.
Intercultural Graduation - Police Chief attended all
Welcome Back BBQ and End of Year BBQ - Police Chief attended all
Black History Month Keynote - Police Chief attended all
Fall 2017: Meetings with Campus Police, BSU, USG and Student Life begin to address some concerns and improve lines of communication.
Fall 2017: Campus Police Officers began the use of body worn cameras in Fall 2017
2019: We created and authorized a new use of force policy.
It includes much of the reform called for in 8 Can’t Wait that surfaced in 2020.
An area not specifically addressed in this policy, but was added later in summer 2020, is an explicit statement that, “...requires officers to intervene and stop excessive force used by other officers and report these incidents immediately to a supervisor.” This was an underlying principle already expected of all officers in our Police Department, but it will be included in the written code moving forward. Additionally, the Moravian University Police Department commits to being part of larger conversations, with the city and within our campus community, about how to prevent issues of racial discrimination."
We brought active shooter simulation (FATS) training to campus in 2019-2020 and the police invited members of the faculty and staff, and some students to participate as civilians. The purpose of civilian participation is to simulate some of the stress/decision making Officers must go through daily. It is a very unique opportunity for non-law enforcement persons to "look behind the curtain”. The Firearms Arms Training Simulator (FATS) is a computer based system that plays digital video images onto a movie screen that is 8 feet tall and 12 feet wide. The system is controlled by the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center operator. The FATS system plays use of force scenarios. The officers interacting with the videos are armed with non-weapons that react with the screen. This allows the system to evaluate the officer's actions.
BSU conversations began with the Police Department after the incident on campus in Fall 2019.
- The meeting that Officer Mora attended with members of BSU in the Spring of 2020 was coordinated with Gloria Chibueze-Azinge, Rick Blake and it was the request of the students that this first meeting be with the BIPOC officer.
- Two subsequent meetings happened between the Chief of Police and members of BSU. More were planned for Spring 2020 (the 2nd meeting was the week before Spring Break).
- Over summer 2020 the VPSA and President of BSU have continued conversation to recommit to these meetings when students return in Fall 2020.
June 2020, Moravian’s Chief of Police and Lieutenant participated in a meeting in the Lehigh Valley at the Greater Shiloh Church in Easton with other valley police officers and Black leaders to begin conversations around restoring trust between the police and persons of color.
July 2020, the Chief and Lt. traveled to Ohio for a two day, intensive experience. The Racial Intelligence Train-the-Trainer Course is the most progressive diversity training for public service professionals. Helping the officer understand their Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Social Intelligence (SI) that helps the officer, the department, and the community: Improves Communication (for work and home-life balance), Builds Morale in the department, Become a Guardian for the community and in the schools. RITE improves the officer’s communication skills (first), so they can engage more effectively with others. Old cultural diversity training (teaching officers what they’re doing wrong) is ineffective in improving police-work. De-escalation techniques, Implicit bias understanding while using EI, empowers the officer with better, more effective decision-making (for themselves and the department). Improved engagement and morale is noticed in the department, and builds Community trust.

ODK Awards

Excellence in Diversity Award revived in Spring 2014
- 2020 - Black Student Union/Benitta Ngobeni
- 2019 - FroNation
- 2018 - Spectrum
- 2017 - Center for Intercultural Advancement and Global Inclusion
- 2016 - Lizabeth Kleintop
- 2015 - Amnesty International
- 2014 - Shane Burcaw
Outstanding Educational Program of the Year 2017: Friday Forums
Outstanding Social Program of the Year
- 2020 - Black Lives Matter March
- 2019 - Spectrum’s Drag Show
- 2018 - Shangela Drag Show
Organization of the Year 2017 - Black Student Union
Progress Award for Most Improved Student Organization 2016 - Black Student Union
Diversity of winners of personal awards. For example, the last 3 sophomore of the year awards have gone to students of color (TahLea Wright, Maci Kendrick, Na’im Pretlow).

Student Trustees: The student trustees elected by the student body have been members of underrepresented communities in 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020.

RAs and OLs

It has been a goal since 2009 to have our RA and Orientation staff more reflect the students in our community. In 2008 and prior, the groups were, typically, 95-100% white/hetero.
- Residence Life Staff - 15-20% for the past four years; 11% this coming year
  - 2016-2017 - 8 of 53
  - 2017-2018 - 10 of 53
  - 2018-2019 - 9 of 53
  - 2019-2020 - 9 of 46
  - 2020-2021 - 5 of 46
- Orientation Staff - 13-18% for the past four years; only 3% this coming year
  - 2016-2017 - 5
  - 2017-2018 - 7
  - 2018-2019 - 5
  - 2019-2020 - 4
  - 2020-2021 - 1

Please note that the work that was happening in 2013 - 2015 helped to shift student culture that began to show up in many ways beginning in 2016. We now see student trustees from diverse backgrounds, ODK awards being won by diverse students and groups, RAs and OLs more representative of student body, increased diversity in USG and MAC (the largest student orgs on campus), the founding of a Black Greek society, more student clubs and orgs around diversity and inclusion issues, and student commencement speakers who are more diverse. We have been making progress on and in our student community, with a strong acknowledgement that there is still so much to be done.

Other College Initiatives

4 full tuition scholarships for Liberty, Freedom, LCCC, NCC for economically disadvantaged groups.
The provost began the process of opportunity hires on our campus, successfully, and LVAIC has been active in bringing faculty of color together so that further connections will help all of us retain and support these faculty members.
Generally increased awareness and support for diversity initiatives and recognition of diverse students and staff need
Creation of Alpha Alpha Alpha, first honor society in the nation for first generation to college.
Tour Guides become more reflective of our community
Foundation of Latin X group
Generally increased awareness and support for diversity initiatives and recognition of diverse students and staff needs
Student leadership positions increased in diversity.
Networking opportunities with Board member Reed Raymond at the Federal Reserve Building in Philadelphia.
Engaged I CC to expand climate survey work and help prepare the ground for a new Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity data: complete