For students attending the University of Kentucky this semester, the first day of classes also marks a semester without an Office for Institutional Diversity.
UK announced last week it was eliminating its Office for Institutional Diversity, months after the state legislature tried to pass bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses statewide. In addition, several other changes announced last week will go into effect. UK will remove mandatory diversity training throughout the university, and no employees will be required to write a diversity statement to be employed.
The Office for Institutional Diversity was created at UK about 15 years ago, and before that, existed as the Office of Minority Affairs since the early 1970s, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said.
Tiffany Madden, a sophomore from Lexington, said she hopes changes to the Office for Institutional Diversity don’t mean changes to the opportunities or resources for minority students. Without a central office, Madden wondered what that would mean for students being able to find resources.
“I feel like if most people didn’t know where to go at first, it will probably be difficult or challenging to find out where the resources are now,” she said. Madden said she was very shy during her first year on campus, and the Martin Luther King Center — a center on campus that works with students from all backgrounds and hosts events centered around cultural awareness, leadership and community — was where she found connections and friendships with other students. “I was able to meet other Black people on campus. I was very scared about being here and there not being any Black people,” Madden said. “So that there’s a whole center for those types of things, that’s great.”
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