DePaul vice president helps craft national anti-racism framework for higher education

A new report by senior officials in higher education, including a DePaul University executive, presents a blueprint for how colleges and universities can create more diverse, inclusive and equitable campuses for all.

Elizabeth F. Ortiz, DePaul's vice president for institutional diversity and equity, participated in the task force that created "A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus."

Published by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the 35-page document recommends 10 priority areas for particular attention by college and university leaders. Each priority area, in turn, has a list of concerns and corrective initiatives that should be considered in shifting the institutional culture.

Paulette Granbery Russell, the president of NADOHE, describes the framework as "a foundation to transform our institutions of higher education into organizations they aspire to be."

"Because of the strength of the research in support of achieving racial equity, we are optimistic that institutions can meet this challenge and become a model for other industries," Russell adds.

Ortiz called the framework "an instrumental guidance document that can assist institutions in examining practices, procedures and policies to enable equity in every aspect of university operations and to build DEI institutional capacity."

"It was an honor to work with NADOHE and colleagues across the country to inform the higher education community on transformative DEI strategies that, if implemented, have the potential to transform the academy,” Ortiz said.

"A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus" is posted online.

Scott Butterworth is an editor of Newsline.