Arianna Siddiqui, a sophomore who is a Muslim, still remembers an episode happening just two weeks after she started at Trinity. A fellow student asked her how she could be part of "a religion filled with child rapists." Siddiqui was very upset and frustrated by such an anti-Muslim comment.
Along with Siddiqui, other students and staff are aware of the many challenges facing minorities on campus. Many believe that Trinity could do better at creating a more positive, diverse campus.
By definition, diversity is the condition of being composed of differing elements, especially the inclusion of different types of people, including different race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, culture, disability, religion and much more. The main underlying concern related to diversity on campus seems to be: is Trinity doing enough to attract diverse students, retain them, and create a space for them on campus where they feel welcome?
Currently the “campus climate” regarding diversity ranges from emotions such as anger and frustration to confusion. Although everyone has their own individual feelings, personal concerns, and challenges, there is a consensus across campus: more needs to be done to improve the overall climate relating to diversity and making all students feel included.
Trinity University administration is aware of the concerns and recognizes that diversity issues are comprehensive challenges, and that to meet these challenges requires comprehensive measures.
“Any time you’re trying to make that level of change, it has to be comprehensive. So I think about faculty, staff, students, administrators, and even alums,” says Trinity’s Vice President for Academic Affairs Deneese Jones, better known as Dr. Dee on campus.
As a start, the university is now conducting a diversity survey, which will give the administration some base-line data to analyze the non-cognitive factors, such as to what degree students feel welcome and accepted at Trinity. The survey data will help the administration decide what specific diversity challenges they need to focus on, says Dr. Dee.
Trinity is taking actions to attract diverse students, faculty and staff. Just this year, the Admissions Office hosted a diversity fly-in program where 25 POC (people of color) were brought to Trinity to learn about the campus. These students meet faculty and staff, including Alli Roman, the director of the Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO).
“It is important for the school to admit these students in and I think it’s up to the students to kind of help this diversity that’s here currently try and flourish,” says sophomore Jenna Ashworth, a member of Trinity Diversity Connection.
Just as important is whether or not Trinity can retain the diverse students it enrolled. Trinity implemented the QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan) in 2017, which focuses on issues related to retention. According to the Trinity website, the QEP “aims to improve the overall first-year experience through teaching, advising, and academic resource support.” This plan helps students adjust to college life here at Trinity. Next year, Trinity President Danny Anderson is going to conduct a campus wide survey focusing on retention, including the type of students Trinity is retaining.
Moreover, Trinity recognizes that students who come from diverse backgrounds have the same academic strengths and abilities, but may also have different ways of learning, says Dr. Dee. To help faculty meet all students’ learning needs, Trinity will continue to offer professional development opportunities.
Another significant move was the creation of the DIO in 2018. This is the first time that Trinity has had a physical space designated specifically for diversity issues and concerns. This space is open to all students, where they can feel comfortable and express their concerns.
Roman, the director of DIO, believes that the creation of her office is a great step in the right direction but points out that more funds are needed in order to perform more efficiently. Roman hopes that the diversity survey can provide data demonstrating the impact of the DIO, so that in the future more resources can be allocated. “We constantly have to be evolving and changing and trying to do new things,” says Roman.
To improve faculty and staff diversity, departments are modifying hiring procedures, including the use of a rubric for evaluating candidates. This can help to eliminate some of the implicit biases in the hiring process. In other words, the university is making sure that they are hiring faculty and staff on a basis that is fair and more accepting of diverse backgrounds, according to Dr. Dee.
While the university administration is taking multiple steps to address diversity issues, some students point out that the administration itself is facing diversity challenges.
Senior Nina Nevill believes that having a diverse campus needs to start from the top down: the administration needs to be diverse, which will then trickle down to the rest of campus. This view is echoed by junior Emily Bourgeois, a student assistant for the DIO and social justice peer educator. “People in power at [Trinity] university should include minority voices at every level of policy formation,” she says.
Many students at Trinity are willing to have these conversations but not always aware of all the university initiatives that help to foster these changes. It’s important that everyone knows what is happening on all levels. “If the change is going to be complete, if it’s going to be healthy, then we need all hands on deck,” says Dr. Dee.
Although these diversity challenges have always been present on campus, more than ever the community is really starting to dig deep into discussions regarding what change needs to take place.
“Is it really enough? You can always be doing more,” says senior KaDarius Lee. To him, it takes collective efforts for real changes to happen. Administrators, faculty, staff and students "were all one and were all in this institution together. So we might as well work together and be respectful of each other’s differences,” says Lee.
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