As our institution struggles with funds and budgets, we must ask what is most necessary and valuable, and nothing embodies these qualities like the work of the Diversity Action Committee. But the Committee needs your help.

Four years after approving the Diversity Plan, the DAC continues to strive for inclusivity and accessibility throughout campus. In efforts to involve the community with their goals, the DAC held an open forum the week after fall break to discuss progress, accomplishments and objectives. Unfortunately, only 10 people attended.

While Guilford already makes efforts to comply with codes and recruit a diverse body of students, the DAC aims to go beyond codes to make sure the institution embraces true diversity. To accomplish this, they need strength in numbers.

The committee hopes to instill a love for diversity in the student body to encourage participation in co-curricular activities that contribute to a more inclusive campus culture. They often see students become involved with organizations after their orientation experience.

In the following year, the group hopes to incorporate diversity programs into the First Year Experience program for all traditional first-year students to increase visibility throughout campus.

Additionally, the DAC and subcommittees — accessibility, recruitment and retention, curriculum, co-curriculum and budget — will continue to focus on education, awareness and resources for the cornucopia of minority identities on campus. They also plan to focus on expanding the services of the Bayard Rustin Center to support activism and education.

In the coming years, the DAC foresees becoming even more crucial to the campus community, particularly as the percentage of minority students in high school continues to rise.

The work being done needs the support of the campus to flourish. The DAC encourages students, staff and faculty to attend the meetings of any subcommittees that interest them and to become involved in embracing and facilitating diversity.

For more information on how to get involved, contact Jorge Zeballos at [email protected] or Barbara Lawrence at [email protected].