The University of Missouri-Kansas City announced Friday it will dissolve its Diversity and Inclusion division and move to a “decentralized” model starting Nov. 1.
The central office currently has only “1.5 full-time employees,” according to an email from Chancellor Mauli Agrawal.
Dr. Viviana Grieco, who has been serving as the interim vice chancellor of the department, will remain with the university as chancellor faculty fellow through the end of the semester to help with the transition.
The key jobs of the Diversity and Inclusion department will be moved to other university departments. They include:
- Annual speaker events like the Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Series and the César Chávez Lecture Series will be moved to the Department of External Relations and Constituent Engagement. That department will also handle conferences, like the Women of Color Leadership Conference.
- On-demand inclusion training for employees will be led by Human Resources.
- The Roos Read book event, part of the First Semester Experience course, will be led by the Office of Curriculum and Assessment.
Agrawal says the decision came after meeting with stakeholder groups about the structure of the university’s inclusion efforts. In an email to the campus, Agrawal said the move follows similar ones from the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas after “recent national and legislative trends.”
The University of Missouri eliminated its division focused on diversity, social equity and inclusion in July after Republican pressure. Last year, the Missouri legislature limited colleges from using diversity questions on hiring requirements and banned schools from teaching diversity-related topics.
“When a goal or initiative is centered in one office, or under one leader, it’s too easy to think that work is someone else’s job, not ours,” Agrawal said. “We all must contribute to the mission of ensuring that all students, faculty and staff are welcomed, valued and provided opportunities to succeed here at UMKC.”
Agrawal said in the email that he would appoint a new coordinating council of campus leaders to oversee Pillar 4 of the school’s strategic plan: “foster an environment of inclusive opportunity and excellence.” That group will be in place of the Chancellor's Diversity Council.
Students and faculty have pushed back on the elimination of diversity programs at other universities. When the University of Kansas announced their change, students told the Kansas News Service that they worried that the move would eliminate spaces where marginalized students could feel at home.
At the University of Missouri, students worried the move would discourage students of color from joining student affinity groups.
UMKC declined to comment further for this story.
KCUR's Kate Mays contributed reporting.
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