The WSC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Team, appointed by President Rames set out to determine last fall the climate on campus for students and staff of color.

A survey was sent out to all students and staff on Jan. 18. Questions included “How often have you been concerned about your physical safety on campus?” and “How would you describe the racial/ethical composition of the community where you grew up?” The survey was constructed to give the action team an idea of how to approach problems here on campus according to an email sent to students and staff by Jay Collier, director of college relations. After receiving the results, the team will then present the findings to Rames and they will propose institution-wide diversity initiatives.

Any student who completed the survey had their name put in a drawing to win a $50 gift card to the campus bookstore.

Another section in the survey focused on learning about respect and skills around diversity and how that will better a student’s education. According to the Department of Education’s website, “Today’s students need to be prepared to succeed with a more diverse and more global workforce than ever before.”

College campuses that are more diverse provide students with a greater worldview that comes from students interacting and learning from each other. A hope of this WSC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Team, is to bring the conversation of diversity into the classrooms.

Wayne has an undergraduate student population made up of 82.2% White students, 8.3% Hispanic/Latino students, 3.5% African American students and 6.7% other. These diversity figures come from College Factual which takes statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor and the O*NET Database to give up-to-date information on colleges and universities across the nation.

According to Collier’s email, the team plans to move this process forward with their next step which includes gathering diversity information from a series of focus groups. These focus groups consist of students who filled out the survey and included their information at the end to be invited into these groups.

Here, the team will be able to hear real questions/concerns from students of all walks of life. These conversations will give insight into daily life and help carve out initiatives that will benefit the student body. Rames and the WSC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Team will continue to prioritize the issues that matter and work to push policies that will benefit individuals of color.