Message from Adam:
An academic community is at its best when it values the rich diversity of human experiences and perspectives. Universities should be places where every individual, regardless of background, feels a sense of belonging and has the support to flourish. To do this, a university should be a pluralistic community that cultivates intellectual curiosity, humility, and the ability to communicate and collaborate across differences.
In pursuit of this vision, we launched Denison Forward in 2020 to ensure that all members of the Denison community experience the welcoming, inclusive environment we seek to create. Our initial focus was understanding and addressing the experiences of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups on campus. While that focus continues, our ultimate aim is to foster a culture of belonging and flourishing for every member of our campus community.
In the summer of 2020, we launched the first phase of this work by forming a committee to understand where Denison was strong and healthy and where we had work to do. In January 2022, we released the Denison Forward plan to broadly engage the campus community. The major focus of this plan was a recognition that every member of our community needs to proactively work to create the campus culture we aspire to have.
Since we launched Denison Forward, four interconnected commitments have emerged:
- Diverse: Cultivate a community rich in diversity (e.g., socio-economic, cultural, and intellectual) that recognizes that the interplay of varied backgrounds, viewpoints, identities, and experiences is essential to the education of our students and the work of our faculty.
- Welcoming: Create a campus culture where everyone feels welcomed from their first day on campus, recognizing that this is everyone’s responsibility.
- Belonging: Ensure that every member of our community feels listened to, valued, and respected and is an essential part of our campus.
- Flourishing: Foster a supportive environment where everyone has the tools and encouragement to do their best work and build the lives they aspire to live.
Our work has both broadened and narrowed. Our initial focus on race and ethnicity was the right place to start, and we have expanded the scope of Denison Forward to focus on inclusivity and belonging for all members of our campus community. Our work is also narrowing, as we have learned to focus on a few areas to ensure progress.
The next phase of our work is focused on four areas that cut across the college:
- Measurement: Developing an instrument that will allow us to measure and understand the experiences of different groups across our campus.
- Onboarding: Revamping how we onboard students, faculty, and staff into Denison to ensure that everybody is welcomed into the community and set up for success.
- Problem Solving: Creating better ways to respond to specific gaps and issues that prevent some community members from feeling a sense of belonging and flourishing.
- Skills Building: Developing the capacity to engage different perspectives, navigate complex social and cultural contexts, and build pluralistic communities where everybody can thrive.
As a liberal arts college, we need to prepare our students to develop the capacity to thrive in a diverse and interconnected world. As an employer, we are working proactively to provide all faculty and staff with the support needed to ensure that Denison is the best place they will ever work.
Denison Forward is critical to our mission and purpose as an academic community. I am proud of the progress we have made and grateful for the hard work so many have put into it.
Adam S. Weinberg
President
Denison University
In Their Words
Alex Pan
Denison Forward and the work surrounding it makes me feel like Denison is listening. It's a solid step for our students of color, but I appreciate the acknowledgment that we still have a long way to go. As a Taiwanese-American in a predominately white institution, it comforts me to know that there is a feedback loop for these discussions and that the wheels are moving.
James L. Anderson
Talent has always been equally distributed in society, but the opportunities have not. It’s imperative that Denison builds on its values and takes the actions needed to create an inclusive and equitable culture that is about listening and understanding, progress, not promises. Equity and inclusion need to be an integral part of our DNA if we are truly going to live up to our full potential of not only being a forward-thinking institution known for developing intelligent discerning citizens but also empathetic leaders who are making an impact around the world.
I only have to look in the mirror and reflect on my own time at Denison and in life to know the importance of this commitment. The work that is being proposed will require transparency, accountability and moments of grace but it gives me hope that with the right systems put into place Denison can help lead the change that is needed.
Jaleel Poole
The socio-cultural landscape of Denison is evolving and adapting to meet the needs of its most underrepresented populations. I am hopeful that Denison Forward will lead to better academic and collegiate outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
It represents an era of opportunity to remove existing structures that are not encouraging the success of BIPOC populations within the Denison community--all while prioritizing the needs indicated by these student groups through policy and action, not just words.
Ray Walker
Denison is composed of students who come from a plethora of backgrounds and who embody diverse lived experiences. As an institution that continuously emphasizes the importance of leaning into not only equality but equity for all students — the work of Denison Forward is incumbent.
I care deeply about the stories of students of color. I care about being a listener and voice for the cultural student experience. It’s not easy being a minority trying to receive an education and not always knowing if you’re supported or if there are resources available to you. I am passionate about bringing these conversations to light and finding ways to create actionable steps forward.
Michael Supp
Denison Forward is important — all students, staff, and faculty should be seen.
I have come to realize that neutrality or ignorance contributes to the problem of structural racism in housing, education, voting, and other aspects of American life.
Nicole Ausmer
Diversity, equity, and inclusion enrich the educational experiences here on The Hill. We learn and grow from those whose life experiences, beliefs, and perspectives are different from our own. Denison Forward is our chance to acknowledge that and work toward a stronger community.
Francisco Javier López-Martín
Investing, promoting, and engaging in diversity and inclusion help us learn new perspectives, explore different archives of knowledge, understand “difference” and, ultimately, embrace the complexities of our world. I am proud to walk this path together with our community.
May Mei
In some sense, the specific outcomes are secondary to the fact that a bunch of people got together and thought hard about what they wanted the institution to be and how to get it there.
The experience of giving my time to a project like Denison Forward has helped me get a deep appreciation for the way that all constituents love the college in a myriad of ways. That doesn't mean thinking the college is perfect, sometimes the best way to love something is to be unflinching in highlighting its flaws.
Nan Carney-DeBord
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenging controversy.” –Martin Luther King
I first read that quote as an undergraduate student in the ’80s. To me, that symbolizes my Denison education. As we mentor through the platform of sport, we want to teach embracing difference, having a growth mindset, and learning from teammates who are different from you. We are leading through a values competency model, and diversity and inclusion is one of our division’s core values.”