IUP’s effort to improve the racial and cultural climate on its campuses is moving forward. The university’s President’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, which was formed in the wake of a racist Snapchat photo sent by a student last fall, has shifted its focus to monitoring and assessing the implementation of recommendations contained in the Diversity Action Plan.
IUP says each university division is formulating action steps to address the recommendations. That includes a new process for reporting incidents of concern, highlighted by a reporting form that is included in every IUP web page.
The school continues to develop an “IUP Diversity and Inclusion Pledge”, which it plans to introduce at the start of the spring semester. Other steps this fall include a work group to explore the use of an ombudsperson to assist in resolving disputes informally when they arise, a system for reporting new initiatives and events to the Office of Social Equity, and a fresh invitation for members of the IUP community to serve on one of the commission’s subcommittees.
