Restructuring the way Wofford diversity efforts work
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) was an office that many students on campus have never known a Wofford without. From the trainings and seminars to the pushes for change and activism, ODI has supplied Wofford with a toolkit for potential reform for many years to come. As of the start of 2021-2022 academic year, however, ODI is no longer a part of the Wofford community.
In its short life, ODI implemented various projects, such as leading the Antiracism 101 Challenge, hosting seminars focused on various injustices, celebrating heritage months, creating a safe place for students to have difficult conversations, advocating for all-gender restrooms and numerous others to make Wofford a safer and more inclusive place for everyone.
Taifha Alexander, the former assistant dean of students for diversity and leadership development with ODI, was hired as such in January 2020. Within the 18 months that she worked with the office, she said that she experienced the office shift from primarily focusing on programming to being more intentional with listening to and leading students, connecting the student and faculty piece.
Wofford College has not released a statement explaining that the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has been removed. Instead, the college has focused on the newly hired Chief Equity Officer. President Samhat commented on this in his interview, stating that this focus on the new Chief Equity Officer and shift away from ODI is a part of fulfilling the JEDI recommendations made in early 2021.
Wofford has decided that, in following these recommendations, the focus moving forward is restructuring the way it approaches diversity, equity and inclusion. According to Samhat, ODI has given all it has to give, and it is time to move forward. The college is ready for a change in pace.
Samhat stated, “[The chief equity officer] will lead our college-wide diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. This is what the ODI was doing in some ways, so what [we are going to do] is to restructure…(1) We have a chief equity officer… (2) Dean Hurley is in the process of hiring in the position that was ODI, serving as the primary liaison with the chief equity officer and assisting with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campus, especially in the student life space.”
If Alexander could reorganize Wofford’s approach to antiracism and diversity, she stated, “the office of Diversity and Inclusion should be split up…a group of people working on policy and procedure… a group of people working in collaboration with faculty… a group of people designated to the student side. Two or three people is not enough… there should be nine or ten people working on those things.”
Whether it be intentional or not, this recommended split of focus is occurring campus-wide, and more changes are to come in the next year for Wofford, especially when considering diversity, equity and inclusion.
