Carson Bonner, Campus Carrier news editor
What is known as a general umbrella term of Culture of Belonging encompasses many collaborative efforts to maintain diversity and inclusion on campus, such as the Intercultural Center (ICC), LISTEN, events highlighting various cultures and projects such as the Good Neighbor Challenge. However, originally the Culture of Belonging was a year-long project formed by the President’s Office in 2020 made up of subcommittees that focused on different topics such as Speech and Behavior, Representing Students of Color, Personal and Professional Development and a Presidential Advisory Committee.
Each subcommittee was headed by a faculty member but was made up of students, staff and faculty. The subcommittees each had a focus or goal that they worked to improve or maintain a specific area of the campus life.
“I think my committee was focused on hate speech,” Associate Dean of Students Lindsay Norman said. “We focused on inclusive speech and behavior, prevention of hateful actions and speech on campus, things like that. There were lots of other really good committees that we tried to make sure had equal student and staff representation so everyone would have a voice.”
According to Chief Diversity and Belonging Officer Haley Smith, the formation of the committees was in response to historic events that were taking place at the time. Notable events were the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Across the country, businesses and universities worked to ensure they had inclusive and diverse policies that would serve to protect at-risk minority groups from violence and discrimination.
“It is my understanding that it was a starting point for students, staff, and faculty to speak into steps the institution needed to take in prioritizing the work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging,” Smith said.
Vice President For Student Affairs and Dean of Students Lindsay Taylor said the project was developed in response to unrest in the country that was reflected on campus.
“The original Culture of Belonging committees were established during a time when there was unrest and distrust across the country,” Taylor said. “That same unrest and distrust was present on Berry’s campus. The committees were charged with various responsibilities. committees were established. While the committees no longer look the same, the work of the committees is still alive and thriving.”
According to Provost David Slade, the organization was unifying with how much division there was during the pandemic and the BLM protests, especially as Berry started its fall semester. Slade’s role was as a member of a subcommittee for programming, answering questions of how Berry could improve overall the culture of belonging, what this meant in context, and how behaviors and perceptions could be analyzed to indicate progress.
“The subcommittee I served on with Lindsay Taylor, mostly we had to think through the various level of the kind of programming we had on campus to see where gaps were in terms of diversity and equity and inclusion,” Slade said. “[The advisory committee] served to advise the president and we would make suggestions as to what adjustments we felt should be made and how those should be made to better the lives of students on campus. The Intercultural Center came out of my subcommittee.”
The largest legacy of the original Culture of Belonging initiative was the opening of the Intercultural Center, a center in Krannert designated for cultural unity, events surrounding ethnic communities and LGBTQIA+ identities and a safe place for anyone on campus to feel welcome. In addition to that, Haley Smith was hired as chief diversity and belonging officer who was part of the Presidential Cabinet, and now reports directly to President Briggs.
“There are many collaborative efforts between our department like Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, Athletics, Advancement and others to keep this work from being siloed and keep it as a priority,” Smith said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we are in a very different place from where we were three years ago. My hope is that we will be in an even better place in three more years.”