At RIT, Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matters! | September 2023
Greetings! On behalf of the Division of Diversity & Inclusion (DDI), it is my honor as Vice President and Associate Provost to welcome you to AY 2023-2024! We welcome you as we continue, in earnest, the great work in the diversity and inclusion space. We return to a campus that looks and feels different as we welcome new students, employees, programs, and buildings. It is indeed an exciting time to be at RIT!
On Thursday, August 31st, the 18th annual Lighting the Way ceremony to welcome incoming students who identify as women and nonbinary, featured a commemorative ribbon cutting to celebrate the newly named Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry Hall. RIT students and employees, 10 members of the Douglass|Sprague family, and guests of the Greater Rochester community gathered for this event—a residence hall renamed in honor of a former student, philanthropist and granddaughter of the great abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass. This residence hall is only the 2nd residence hall at RIT named in honor of a woman and the first building at RIT named in honor of a person of color.
Denishea Ortiz, Executive Director of Strategic Marketing in Auxiliary Services, wrote of the event, “August 31, 2023, was such a powerful moment for ME. Never in my lifetime would I have thought RIT would have a building named after a Black woman. A Black Woman. Not a Black man. A Black Woman! Ain’t I A Woman.”
Denishea was one of three co-chairs, along with Kory Samuels and David Bagley, who were joined by Kelly Kamish along with an outstanding university-wide team to plan this commemoration. She went on to add:
“As I stood towards the crowd facing Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry Hall, the Unity House logo was clear and in sight, smiling at Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry Hall. It was a great moment of reflection and a resounding cry of ‘we see you; we hear you; we’re here for you; we got you.’ As an alum, class of ’04, I lived in Unity House and it was a place of comfort. I knew by living there, I would be ‘safe’ at a PWI (Predominately White Institution) and have a sense of home and relatability. I know Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry Hall will do the same for many. The renaming continues to build on the university’s commitment to be inclusive and act on it. Be About It.”
Denishea’s words spoke powerfully to me about how much our diversity, equity and inclusion matters at RIT. This past summer, many of us learned about the U. S. Supreme Court’s ruling that prohibits the use of a particular aspect of diversity—race—as a factor in college admissions. Despite this decision, President Munson shared RIT’s commitment to diversity, explaining, “This decision will not affect the way we admit students at RIT. While operating under the law, we will strive to continue diversifying our student body as outlined under the university’s strategic plan. We seek diversity in many forms within the admissions review process. We firmly believe that students living and learning within a diverse community enrich the educational experiences for all.”
In short, our diversity, equity, and inclusion matters! Whether the challenges we face are global, national, political, social, or environmental, diversity matters.
In response to the Kahramanmaras Earthquake or the wind-whipped wildfire that engulfed the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina, impacting RIT students from Turkey, Syria, and Hawaii, respectively, the RIT family reached out to check on “our” students and their families in those spaces. Of the outreach, through letters and personally, one wrote, “On behalf of our students and the entire FSP (Future Stewards Program) community, I want to express our gratitude for your support and care.” Again, a message had been sent to students of the RIT family, “we see you; we hear you; we’re here for you; we got you.”
As the year unfolds, I encourage all of us to take advantage of the myriad opportunities to gather across cultures, share different perspectives, examine issues, explore solutions, and be the change we desire to see in this world. Discover that at RIT, our diversity, equity, and inclusion matters.
Although there are many opportunities for us to gather, I specifically encourage you to mark your calendars for Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue which will be held on October 20, 2023, from 10am-4pm. This year we will focus on gender and sexuality. This is the second year for Together RIT, just one of several initiatives to come out of our RIT Action Plan for Race and Ethnicity.
Regarding the Division of Diversity & Inclusion, we are delighted to also welcome several new members, outlined in our DDI Good News section of the newsletter, to the DDI family. We are excited and look forward to the new ideas they will bring as we continue to find ways of showing the importance of diversity and inclusion and the impact it can make with students and employees—our RIT community.
As I reflect on how excited I felt as a child with the start of a new school year, I admit I still get those same emotions as an adult. Perhaps you do as well. A new semester always brings new beginnings, new opportunities and a sense of optimism for what lies ahead. As you embrace the many changes on the RIT campus—from the Student Hall for Exploration and Development, known as The SHED, to Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry Hall—be reminded that at RIT, our diversity, equity, and inclusion matters!
So, I invite you to join your DDI colleagues as we work together and extend our partnerships across campus to continue to foster a spirit of diversity and inclusion. I am excited for all of the possibilities that lie ahead for us this year!
Sincerely,
Keith Jenkins
Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion