News
Keith Jenkins

Students, faculty, and staff are starting a new year during a continuing global pandemic. But that’s not stopping the momentum of student success, research, fundraising, and building projects designed to make RIT even better. That was just part of the message RIT President David Munson told the university community this morning at his annual President’s Address.

RIT unveiled an extensive new plan and series of initiatives aimed at making the university more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. The Action Plan for Race and Ethnicity will guide RIT’s efforts over the next several years as it rolls out new programs, services, and policies to help create equal access, opportunities, and respect for all students, faculty, and staff.

RIT unveiled its Action Plan for Race and Ethnicity, outlining numerous new initiatives that will guide the university’s work in diversity and inclusion over the next several years. Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Keith Jenkins, who led efforts to compile the plan, answered several questions about the plan and its implications.

The Doug Peacock Scholarship will provide 75 awards in total for three cohort groups of five first-year students selected from the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, College of Engineering Technology, and Saunders College of Business.

Following the slayings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, the nation was challenged to change its ways in response to systemic racism and social inequity. University leaders spent the summer engaging with students, faculty, staff, and alumni groups to generate a list of roughly 100 ideas of ways RIT can do more on these fronts.

New York Times bestselling author Bakari Sellers will deliver a talk titled “Education, Civil Rights and Equality: Cornerstones for Our Future” at the 39th Expressions of King’s Legacy. The virtual event is free and open to the public, taking place on Zoom from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28.

The RIT Diversity Dashboard provides a snapshot of institutional demographics, highlighting RIT’s diverse populations and allowing us to examine recent trends related to race, ethnicity, and gender diversity.

RIT unveiled a new sculpture of Frederick Douglass and a display of four cultural flags in the university’s Student Alumni Union. The sculpture was commissioned in celebration of the 50th anniversary of RIT’s Black Awareness Coordinating Committee, and the Haudenosaunee flag, the Black Lives Matter flag, the Rainbow or Pride flag, and the Sign Union Flag serve as a visual marker of RIT's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

A Black Lives Matter rally, complete with speakers, music, poetry, and dancing groups, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, on campus by RIT students. Performances are expected by RIT Velocity, a student-run urban dance team, and Sunshine 2.0 performance group from RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine has recognized RIT as a 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award recipient and a 2020 Diversity Champion. This marks the seventh year in a row RIT has been named a HEED Award recipient and sixth consecutive year as a Diversity Champion.

Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion, provided an update to the community on Tuesday about the university’s efforts on antiracism and social justice. Jenkins said that he and university leaders spent the summer engaging with students, faculty, staff, and alumni groups to generate a list of roughly 100 ideas of ways RIT can do more on these fronts.

RIT has launched a new bias-related incident report form designed to streamline the process for filing complaints involving students or when the parties involved are unknown, such as graffiti.