LOS ANGELES — Loyola Marymount University’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives earned LMU an institutional excellence award from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
NADOHE – the preeminent voice for chief diversity officers and a leader in the national conversation on DEI – presented LMU with its Institutional Excellence Award for a four-year university at a ceremony on Friday, April 14, in Baltimore, Maryland. The annual awards program recognizes higher education administrators, scholars and institutions who are leaders in the study of diversity by means of research, leadership, and service.
“This year’s winners have demonstrated an impressive commitment to transforming higher education so that all may thrive on our campuses — a commitment NADOHE shares,” President Paulette Granberry Russell said. “At a time when diversity, equity and inclusion is needed more than ever, it is vital that we lift up the excellence of our colleagues and celebrate their successes.”
Emelyn dela Peña, LMU vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, was on hand to accept the award at the closing of the organization’s annual conference. “NADOHE’s recognition of LMU amplifies the university’s commitment to anti-racism, its multifaceted strategies for creating a more equitable and inclusive community, and the dedication of the many people moving them forward,” dela Peña said.
Since joining LMU in December 2021, dela Peña has been at the forefront of LMU’s commitment to actively cultivate an anti-racist institutional climate that supports inclusive excellence and fights systemic oppression. This includes campus-wide efforts in recruiting and hiring diverse faculty and staff members; completing a systemic analysis to understand invisible barriers that may prevent the community from fully addressing anti-racism; approving new core curriculum requirements to align with commitments to anti-racist pedagogy; developing the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center Alliance; student support services through Ethnic and Intercultural Services; and launching Cultural Consciousness Conversations and the LMU Anti-Racism Workshop Series.
Additionally, LMU has created the Inclusive History and Images Project, a growing audio/visual archive of images and oral histories from historically marginalized communities at the university and LMU Loyola Law School. IHIP endeavors to amplify and draw awareness to their stories.
NADOHE’s Institutional Excellence Award is presented to those demonstrating measurable progress in promoting and sustaining DEI efforts within their community, through institutional leadership, curricular reform, institutional transformation, professional development, assessment policies and practices, accountability measures, outreach efforts and more.
More information is available at nadohe.org.
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