Jackie Font-Guzmán, EMU’s director of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), updated SGA members about various DEI initiatives on campus at their Feb. 16 meeting. The DEI office and Jackie’s position are new to EMU, and Jackie has been active in the role since April 2021. One of the DEI initiatives includes student and faculty access to DEI grants, which will go to projects that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion values in EMU’s community. 

Jackie encourages students to look into and apply for these grants, of which there are three options available. “Inclusive Excellence Grants” and “Belong Together Mini Grants” are available to EMU students, faculty, and staff. “Hertzler-Koshy Faculty Fellowship” grants are exclusively for faculty members. There’s more information and applications for all three grants on EMU’s website. 

Senior Isaac Alderfer hopes the grants will encourage conversation and club collaboration about intersectional issues on campus. “I know there’s some momentum behind this…It’s about getting those ideas out there and asking around.” Even if someone doesn’t get a grant, Alderfer is hopeful that it would at least spark conversation around DEI projects. 

Senior Molly Piwonka, member of Arts Club leadership, mentioned that Arts Club and Earthkeepers are working together to apply for one of these grants in hopes of painting a mural “highlighting women and diverse scientists” in the Suter Science Center. 

Jackie also spoke to SGA about EMU’s current Christian tenured-track policy. According to SGA’s meeting minutes, EMU’s tenured-track policy requires tenured faculty and tenured-track faculty to be Christian. The meeting’s minutes report that “for EMU to really live into the values, she [Jackie] believes this requirement will need to be removed.” While she plans on raising this issue with the Board of Trustees, it’s ultimately up to them. 

Alderfer and Piwonka both affirmed that the policy is an obstacle for DEI at EMU.

Alderfer claimed that removing this policy would lead to more diversity of thought on campus and would ultimately be a good thing. He sees people uncomfortable with sharing their own perspectives if they fall outside of the normalized ideas at EMU. 

Piwonka observes that the DEI office and Jackie have already done a lot of work at EMU. She remarked that she appreciates how engaged Jackie is with the student body and wishes more administrators were like that. Being engaged with students allows administrators to be aware of the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion present on EMU’s campus and in EMU’s culture.