The Pratt School of Engineering renamed its Committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community to the “Office of Culture and Belonging,” Cloe Liparini, executive director of the Office of Culture and Belonging, announced in a Tuesday email. She said the change is a response to Duke “navigating a period of transition and uncertainty.”
The move is part of the University’s inclusive excellence initiative launched in May in response to the Trump administration’s crack down on DEI in higher education. At the time of the initiative’s announcement, Kimberly Hewitt, vice president for institutional equity and chief diversity officer, recommended groups choose names that “really emphasize the outcomes that [they] hope to achieve” as opposed to “focusing on particular words or acronyms.”
The office has a new website that omits mentions of “diversity” that had appeared on the DEIC’s website. The new site did not list a distinct mission statement but appears to emphasize “strengthening [the] community” and creating an environment where all are “respected, connected and empowered.” The DEIC’s mission statement was “to include and engage the rich diversity of students, staff, faculty, administrators and community partners in all facets of our work as a school.”…