IU-Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity for 2022. According to INSIGHT’s announcement, IUB and IUPUI, along with 102 other universities, were awarded for their demonstration of an excellent commitment to diversity and inclusion across their campuses.
Since the inception of the HEED Award 11 years ago, IUPUI has been recognized every year, and IUB has received eight consecutive awards since 2015. Additionally, IUB was selected as a Diversity Champion, a separate award from INSIGHT given to universities for serving as models of excellence to other universities and developing successful strategies and programs for diversity and inclusion.
Both IUB and IUPUI have credited their achievements to new initiatives, such as opening a Jewish Culture Center, hosting the first national HIV conference and launching a taskforce on Latinx staff recruitment and retention to better understand the representation of Latinx staff at IUPUI.
Related: [IU Hillel opens new Jewish Culture Center]
INSIGHT Into Diversity is the oldest and largest diversity magazine in higher education, striving to advance the national conversation about diversity and inclusion. In addition to the HEED and Diversity Champion awards, INSIGHT also recognizes universities for supporting minority-owned businesses and for supporting initiatives to recruit and retain women and underrepresented students in STEM through two separate awards.
James C. Wimbush, vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs and Johnson Chair for Diversity and Leadership at Indiana University, lauded IU’s achievement in a statement for the office of the Vice President for diversity, equity, and multicultural affairs.
“We take great pride in this diversity work—and look forward to making continual improvements so that our campuses truly exist as places of access, success, equity, and community for all,” Wimbush said in the statement.
Opposite their commitment to diversity and inclusion is IU’s track record with diversity and inclusion. For some Black students, IU depicts a false image of the student population. From the University Institutional Research and Reporting statistics for 2022, 30.5% of degree-seeking ‘domestic students’ from across all of IU’s campuses are people of color, including Black, Asian, Latino, Indian, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and multiracial students.
Related: [Black Voices: IU depicts a false image of the student population]
IU is becoming more diverse, according to this same information, as the number of BIPOC undergraduate students has more than doubled from 11,105 in 2005 to 24,398 in 2022.
However, an increase in student body diversity does not always reflect IU’s attitudes, in either the administration or student body, toward this increase in diversity. With the recent rise in antisemitism on IU’s campus, anti-Asian racism experienced by students and the mental toll Black students experience at IU, diversity numbers increasing don’t always translate to more inclusivity experienced on campus.
