Diversity, equity and inclusion are intrinsically linked with Marshall University’s identity, one English professor said.
“Quite frankly, if you look through Marshall’s annual calendar, and you get rid of all the events that are planned (by) a group celebrating gender, a group celebrating sexuality, a group celebrating an ethnic or cultural group,” Hilary Brewster said, “you’re not left with a lot.”
As the director of the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, Brewster said she fears for the future of events planned by her program – such as the Alys Smith Symposium on Women Professionals, which features local female panelists from specific career fields and provides students with a networking opportunity – following Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s issuance of an executive order that bans DEI initiatives in federally-funded institutions.
With the restrictions of this ban still uncertain, Brewster also expressed concern for events associated with cultural holidays like Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Chinese New Year.
“At what point are we just getting rid of everything that there is to do on campus, and what is going to count as a program that has to do with DEI?” she asked.
Along with the ban potentially decreasing the number of events and organizations for students to get involved in on campus, Brewster said she thinks it will impact the university’s numbers overall.
“I think it will affect enrollment; I think it will affect retention; I think it might impact recruitment of faculty,” she said, “and that’s really disheartening.”
Overall, Brewster said limiting discussions of DEI-related subjects comes at the detriment to a student’s college experience.
“That’s what learning and being a student and being aware and being a good citizen are about,” she said. “Not everybody is like you. The way you think has a right to be challenged, and that goes for everybody.”
“To limit what people can learn about each other and the world and history and culture, I think, is a grave misunderstanding of what the point of all of this is,” she said.
Brewster said those unclear on the necessity of DEI should look to its history, citing the LGBTQ fight for marriage rights, the women’s suffrage and civil rights movements as examples.
“If everything had just been distributed roughly equally from the get-go, we wouldn’t necessarily even need the concept of DEI, but that is obviously not what has happened historically,” she said.
“I find it almost ridiculous we live in a world where an acronym that is literally about coming together has caused such divisiveness,” Brewster said. “I, personally, think we all do better when we all do better.”
As for students fearful of the ban’s potential impact on their college experience, Brewster said she wants them to know they have support from the Marshall community.
“If you are a student who is wondering how this is going to affect you at Marshall, what your life is going to be like, what campus is going to be like or even asking existential questions like, ‘Does this mean that people hate me?’ she said, “you have a place here. We see you. We are here for you, and there are still resources on campus for you.”
Baylee Parsons can be contacted at [email protected].
