Last Word: Word Cloud

 

We asked you to imagine Cornell and tell us, in one word, what diversity, equity, and inclusion should look like on campus. This illustration by Zoe’e Jordan ’15 captures what you told us. 

We gave alumni the option to include a further explanation of their word. Below are your responses:

Authenticity
Continuation
Advancement	Increase in funding and resources to support faculty, staff, and student diversity
Faculty	A more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive faculty and staff. Then and only then will the campus as a whole become more diverse and inclusive.
	Gender neutral bathrooms in common areas. I actually said this (having been a former Alliance president and member) during my exit interview when I left Cornell. I knew people were going to be starting their transition the following year and I saw it as being a reasonable request given gender neutral bathrooms already existed in some of the dorms.
Unlearning
Active Listening
Intersectionality
Decolonized
Inclusion
Work
MindsetShift
Transition
Challenging	In terms of DEI my vision is a Cornell College community that challenges individuals to examine, dissect, and broaden the perspectives they have (not just students but faculty and staff would be included in these conversations and challenge each other to all become more inclusive and create change by choice).
Mentorship	For some college is the dream. Thereafter can become a nightmare. The real success is when a student can transition into alumni status with a vision and some guidance.
Representation	PAAC should invite more students of color to be involved in their council as well as inviting more performers/entertainers of color to campus.
Legacy	Intentional connection with and communication of the history of movements and students’ issues/actions on campus and beyond.
Connection	Connection. #ImagineCornell where the diverse student organizations under that ICL umbrella work together and support each other to make things happen and also have good connections and support of more faculty and staff!
Professors of Color	More Black/colored professors: Are there ANY black professors since the retirement of Anthropology Professor Alfrieta Monagan?
Minority inclusive curriculum	Minority inclusive curriculum: I recall the work of BACO members in diversifying curriculums across departments and the most prominent example that of the Philosophy Department, one of the oldest at the school that doesn’t teach anything in the way of Black/African American contributions to philosophy. As an International Relations grad I can further affirm this, with most of my education comprised of history classes about Europe and (ESPECIALLY) Russia and the Soviet Union. Not sure how that has changed with the department composition changing.
Languages	Languages at Cornell: the languages taught at Cornell do not represent the wide breadth in modern languages available at other small colleges, especially one that teaches all of these International Relations classes and has such a solid showing in Fulbright participation.
Partnership	I would love to see different groups getting together to bolster each other’s causes.
Health	We should make mental health a higher priority, especially due to divisiveness in the country, and make sure everyone, no matter gender, race, sexuality, income, etc., receives proper support.