This case study examines an issue that DEI-centered programs may face in the current political climate. Higher education institutions that once offered resources tailored to underrepresented student populations, such as students of color and first-generation students, are navigating unexplored territory. Institutions are requiring such programs to rebrand and rethink their program functions and student population focus. Navigating these changes may lead professionals overseeing these functional areas to experience burnout while working under a cloud of uncertainty and navigating reduced resources and staffing.

Key Words: Student Programs, Minority Students, Student Engagement, Student Retention, Sense of Belonging, Underrepresented Student Populations

Institutional Context

Channel Islands University (CIU) is a public land-grant institution located on the coast of the state of Washington. The medium-sized university enrolls approximately 50% of students from out of state. The main attractions of this university are its excellent marine biology, architecture, and humanities programs. In addition, CIU has strong men’s and women’s soccer teams that have each gained national attention for their excellent performance. The Office of Student Engagement is home to the program United in Affinity, which has historically supported students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. An assistant director and a graduate student run United in Affinity.

Character Descriptions

Elena (she/her) is a second-year graduate student who has served as the graduate assistant for a retention and belonging program for over a year. In this role, Elena aids the program’s assistant director with supervising students, overseeing a mentoring program, hosting events, and teaching a seminar for first-year students in the program. Her goal is to promote students’ success and a sense of belonging through the program.

Sara (she/her) is a higher education professional with seven years of experience, working in various functional areas, including advising for two years and orientation for two years at other public four-year institutions on the west coast. She has been in the role of assistant director for a program tailored for students of color for the past three years. Her goal through the program is to uplift and provide tailored resources to support students of color.

Case

The United in Affinity (UA) program was founded in 1988 to serve first generation, low-income, and students of color at Channel Islands University, aiming to increase the diversity of the student population on campus. The mission of UA is to promote student excellence by cultivating an inclusive, diverse, and supportive community that uplifts and advocates for resources and mentorship that underrepresented students need to thrive in a new and complex social environment. The primary function of the program is to promote student retention, academic success, and professional development for participants through a mentoring program, tailored courses from first to fourth year focused on professional development and academic success, and events focused on social justice, social identities, and multicultural aspects of campus, community, and life beyond higher education.

Assistant director Sara and graduate assistant Elena oversees the program and collaborate on projects throughout the year. Elena and Sara hold similar views regarding UA’s mission and how to support UA students. They hold weekly 1-1 meetings to discuss the program and collaborate on new initiatives. Given their similar dynamics and work structure, their work tends to flow steadily, and they consistently lean on each other for support when needed. As a graduate student, Elena has gained a holistic perspective of the qualities of a good supervisor by working with Sara, who embodies those traits with ease and intentionality.

For the past year, concerning rumors about the future of multicultural programs like UA were heard throughout public institutions across the nation. The concerns involved different views. Some people supported such programs and understood their importance, while other groups deemed them an unnecessary use of federal funds given their possible relationship or lack of to such programs, grants, and fellowships that exist within higher education. Elena and Sara were adamant to stay up to date on such discussions that frequently caused commotion nationwide, and absorbed the whispers, and conversations about the different views were discussed from time to time. Up to that point, no changes had been made to the program, and they continued their work as usual.

The Announcement

This past week, the recently re-elected president announced that many new changes were being made that would affect public higher education institutions, one of them being the end of DEI-centered programs, which would be effective within a short time frame. When Elena arrived at work, her supervisor, Sara, mentioned they must emphasize quick, concise, and diligent work to address the issue at hand that would soon directly affect UA. They were both aware that, given the tense and polarizing political climate, a decision like this was bound to come into fruition. However, they were both a bit taken aback and startled by the sudden news.

Elena questioned how they would continue supporting their program and how their current student population would react to the change. Suddenly, some of the pillars of their program, such as Celebrating Diversity, and specifically targeting and supporting first generation, low-income, and students of color were off the table. Sara replied that they would need to make replacements to the language of their mission, events, and pillars to accommodate the new rules and regulations, ensuring the program continues to exist. At that moment, there were about 100 students in the program, with about 70 being first year students.

“This is an opportunity for us to get creative,” said Sara. “We have the chance to be intentional and experiment with new themes and ideas we have yet to implement into our program,” she said with hope. Hearing her supervisor’s approach come from a place of belief that there is still work to be done and that the two of them were in a great position to do that work made Elena feel at ease. They hoped that things would change in the future, but for now, they would pivot and improvise with what was within their reach. Later, news that their program budget would decrease by 20% and there would not be a graduate assistant the following year made Sara and Elena aware that the resources to support this student population would look different now, and even more so this next academic year.

The main verdict given by the institution to suffice the government requests, The mission of the program had to be explicitly expanded so that United in Affinity must be open to every student at Channel Islands University, regardless of their identity, thereby significantly shifting the student population towards the beginning of their fall semester. Although the program was now open to all students regardless of their demographic, the start of the Fall semester showcased the new strategy did not attract students outside of the underrepresented demographic. During the welcome social for new and returning members of the program, a majority of new students who do not fall into the POC demographic decided to leave the event and withdraw their involvement with the UA program. This posed a new issue; how would the program retain this new student population?

Former and returning UA students who fell into the underrepresented student population noticed changes in the program’s student population, language, mission, and events. They began questioning why specific identities, such as diversity, gender, sexuality, and race were no longer highlighting topics amongst the programs, given they were frequently incorporated in activities and discussions in the past. One student even expressed the thought of how underrepresented students’ resources are being stripped, making it seem as if there is nothing left to specifically aid them. The students who were accustomed to these aspects of the program are now second, third-, and fourth-year students. On the other hand, the first-year student population does not know this past version of UA that holds diversity, equity, and inclusion themes.

Despite these changes, Sara and Elena continued to adjust content as needed but persisted in supporting students and helping them build a sense of belonging on campus. Now, the discussions about changes and all the work the two of them did to adapt to new requirements have settled ever so slightly. Still, the opportunity to get creative and change things in ways that were not considered before helped build a stronger foundation for the program itself and allow for more current focuses to be incorporated.

Discussion Questions

1. Sara views these changes as an opportunity for innovation. What creative strategies could be introduced to sustain support for students who need it most?
2. What risks and opportunities emerge when a long-standing DEI-centered program is required to rebrand or broaden its mission?
3. How can programs adapt to their learning outcomes when identity-specific content is suddenly restricted?
4. Which program components would you preserve, modify, or eliminate under the new constraints, and why?

Author Bio

Rebecca Lara (she/her/hers) is an Iowa native. She attended the University of Iowa for her Bachelor of Arts degree and is currently in the Student Affairs Master’s program at Clemson University.