By Nicarlyle Hanchard / Jambar Contributor
Youngstown State University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is now the Office of Belonging, Empowerment and Engagement. The change came toward the end of the spring semester.
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court returned its ruling on Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.
The universities were accused of discriminatory practices during their admissions processes through affirmative action. The Supreme Court voted to repeal the application of affirmative action in the admissions process of higher education.
YSU President Bill Johnson, said given the ruling, he and the members of the former DEI Office met to discuss the office’s relaunch.
“Back in the early spring, we got word of the Harvard–Supreme Court case, where they issued rulings around race-based admissions and financial aid,” Johnson said. “We then got guidance from our state attorney general. In light of all that guidance dealing with DEI, we decided at YSU to refocus our DEI department on the individual rather than an ideological agenda.”
The charter for the Office of BEE was done by Susan Moorer, associate director, and Donquail Mims, the former coordinator of transition and mentoring programs. President Johnson said the rewrite was done to ensure everyone’s needs were met.
“[Moorer and Mims] were actually the ones who rewrote our charter so that we can ensure that everybody, whether you are a student, faculty or a staff member on campus, regardless of where you’re from, your walk of life, your skin color, ethnic background or your gender preference, that you feel safe, respected, valued and that your voice is heard,” said Johnson.
Moorer said her office looked into the approach taken by other universities in the state, and that provided them a base from which to build.
“We took a combination of some of the other names we had seen for universities, and we thought belonging, empowerment, and engagement encompassed everything we wanted to do in this office,” Moorer said. “We’re an office where we want everyone to feel welcomed. It’s not a specific, targeted group, it’s for everyone. All students.”
The BEE Office also experienced a location change, as it’s now housed in Melnick Hall. The office is now a part of the Sokolov Honors College, which is located in Fok Hall. Moorer said it was more practical to make the move from the office’s longtime home in Jones Hall.
“We are now a part of the Honors College with Dr. Amy Cossentino and we’re working in conjunction with the Tressel Institute for Leadership and the Office of Community Engagement,” Moorer said. “It was more efficient for us to work collaboratively, to share resources and staff. It’s a lot more efficient than us working on our own.”
Johnson said he also believes the change of location will add to the mission of the BEE Office.
“We wanted to give the Office some increased focus. That’s the whole purpose in doing this, to elevate the individual. There’s no better place to do that than in our Honors College and in our Community and Engagement Office,” Johnson said.
Moorer said the Office of BEE is a planning partner for Hispanic Heritage Month. The office was also involved in the Homecoming events for the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
The office has several mentorship and transitional programs, such as the Achieve Impact Motivate mentoring program, Navarro Executive Fellows and a summer program through the Youngstown State Enrichment Summer Scholastic Institute, among others.
