Buffalo State Receives 'Insight Into Diversity' Award for Fourth Year
Today, Buffalo State received the 2016 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual award, Buffalo State will be featured along with 82 other recipients in the magazine's November 2016 issue.
This marks the fourth year in a row that Buffalo State has received this national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
INSIGHT Into Diversity selected Buffalo State specifically for its numerous campus initiatives that celebrate diversity in and out of the classroom. They include an ongoing Diversity Dialogue Speakers Series; the “I Love Consent” campaign; the annual Anne Frank Project social justice conference; and the Beyond Boundaries Dare to Be Diverse film series in conjunction with the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the college’s Communication Department. Other campus initiatives demonstrate a commitment to diversity beyond the country's borders, allowing students to study in such countries as Chile, Rwanda, Zambia, and Haiti.
“This is an institutional commitment. Our efforts to address diversity at Buffalo State are thoughtful and supported by campus constituents across our academic departments and the division of student affairs as well as community partners,” said Karen A. Clinton Jones, Buffalo State’s chief diversity officer and director of the Equity and Campus Diversity Office. “We work in conjunction with many entities to ensure that our campus is welcoming, diverse, and inclusive. Buffalo State not only recruits students representative of diverse backgrounds, we continue to work toward increasing the diversity among our employees. We have a campus community—faculty, staff, and students alike—who view our diversity as a strength.”
The college awards mini-grants that provide financial assistance to projects, workshops, and activities that have institutional impact and support diversity. Award recipients for 2016 include "Gender Inclusive Restrooms Project"; "I Love Consent, Part 1 and 2"; "The Black Cross Project"; "New World, New Wardrobe"; and "The Women of Little Vietnam: Decolonization and the Repatriate Experience."
“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees—and best practices for both—continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a holistic approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being accomplished every day across their campus.”