What's Happening in DEI @ OCU

OCU Law hosts Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion panels

Beginning in February, OCU School ofLaw has facilitated a discussion series called Stony the Road to illuminate and explore several pertinent issues within the scope of DEI. Distinguished panels from both in- and outside OCU Law led dialogues on various topics: "Examining the Institutionalization of Discrimination," "Incarceration, Injustice, and Inequality," and "Examining the Role of Identity in the Workplace." The latest, a keynote entitled "Why Equity and Inclusion Matter in the Legal Field," featured speaker Preston Mitchum, a Black and queer civil rights advocate living in Washington, D.C., who spoke about intersectionality and how to center a justice-minded profession on the needs of the most marginalized communities. These virtual events have been open to the entire OCU community and free for the entire community. Additionally, these discussions will continue for the next academic year!

OCU Student Affairs' Dr. Smith wins national award

Dr. Tiffany Smith, the Director for Student Engagement in OCU's Division of Student Affairs, won the 2021 Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year at the recent NASPA Conference for her work: "Indigenizing the Academy: A Story-telling Journey to Determine Pathways for Native Student Success in Engineering." The award recognizes outstanding dissertation research conducted by doctoral degree recipients presently in student affairs. Dr. Smith's study explores the lived experiences of Indigenous students in undergraduate engineering programs at non-Native colleges and universities. A member of the Cherokee and Muscogee Creek tribes of Oklahoma, this research was particularly poignant for Dr. Smith who hopes this study may inform administrators of successful strategies on reciprocal relationships with tribal nations to recruit Indigenous students to their programs, provide culturally relevant, supportive environments for them, and ultimately graduate them to contribute to the workforce and the increased vitality of their respective tribal communities.

ODEI attends AAC&U Conference

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team attended the annual Association of American Colleges & Universities Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success last month. Throughout three days of virtual presentations, they gained insight and support from thousands of DEI offices from every region of the country. Keynote Speaker Dr. Lori Patton Davis' talk, "Truth or Dare: A Call for Accountability and Action in Higher Education" set forth a list of dares for all equitable institutions such as engaging in solidarity with different communities on campus, humanizing minoritized people, and using intersectionality as a strategy to fix systems instead of people. The ODEI looks forward to bringing these and other initiatives to campus in the coming months!

Poster for Stony the Road talks at OCU School of Law

Keynote Speaker Dr. Lori Patton Davis at the 2021 AAC&U Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success