Posted: May 8, 2022

We are a group of concerned faculty at Eastern Washington University (EWU).  In the last few years we’ve seen the institution backslide in its commitments to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and social justice.  In particular, there’s been a weakening of support for the four autonomous Diversity Programs (Africana, American Indian, Chicanx, and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies).  

We understand that the institution’s commitment to these programs is indicative of its broader support of marginalized students, faculty, staff and their communities.  Therefore, we know that the lack of support for the Diversity Programs is tied to: the recent report from the Faculty Organization that provides evidence of how unsupported newer faculty feel; the number of faculty and staff, especially from marginalized communities, who have left or are leaving the institution; and student perception of the institution as racist, oppressive, and unsupportive, which contributes to EWU’s critically low graduation and retention rates, especially for marginalized students (https://bit.ly/3L8PCAN).

EWU is at odds with national and state-wide trends to structurally support DEI and create more welcoming environments for marginalized communities in institutions of higher education.  These actions at EWU run counter to Washington state’s SB 5227, which mandates the development and implementation of programs for all faculty, staff and students in order to help develop and maintain “a culture of belonging and support,” particularly for “students from historically marginalized communities.”  Governor Inslee signed SB 5227 in May 2021 (https://bit.ly/3wgXlY5).  
 
We are optimistic about the change in leadership with incoming President Dr. Shari McMahan.  Her experience and leadership in regional state institutions with diverse populations, her commitment to shared governance and appreciation of faculty knowledge, her experience building community partnerships and her expertise in Public Health are exactly what EWU needs in this critical time.  We want Dr. McMahan to understand EWU’s commitments and recent failures so that she will recognize the urgent need to reverse course by making immediate, bold, structural changes to support true diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice at EWU.
 
EWU’s Commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice include the following:
 
o  The mission of EWU includes “Enhancing access to higher education in the Inland Northwest and beyond by recruiting and supporting traditional college-bound students, non-traditional students, and those from underserved populations” (https://bit.ly/3FpmeoB)
 
o  One of the four central elements of the EWU 2018-2023 Strategic Plan is “Embrace Equity and Social Justice” (https://bit.ly/392AQhB)
 
o  One of the seven 2021-2022 EWU Board of Trustees (BOT) goals is: “Actively support and monitor the diversity among faculty, staff, and the student body and promote a culture of inclusion that welcomes a wide array of backgrounds, life experiences, ethnicities and viewpoints”
 
EWU’s recent failures regarding diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice include the following:
 
o   EWU lost trust and support from multiple constituencies in Spring 2020 when it: 1) dismantled the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI); 2) eliminated the position of Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, ending its contract with Vice President Dr. Shari Clarke; and 3) continued to push to consolidate the four autonomous Diversity Programs (https://bit.ly/3FClHje).  All of these actions were reversed, but only after considerable student (https://bit.ly/3kSxTmo) and community pressure (https://bit.ly/3wfVKld).
 
o   From June 2020 until June 2021, multiple commitments were made by EWU and United Faculty of Eastern (UFE) leadership to develop a Diversity Directors’ Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide institutional recognition and structural support to those Directors and the programs; this never materialized.  Instead, on June 4, 2021 an “Academic Program Directors” MOU was presented to UFE membership.  It is now being implemented with serious negative consequences for the Diversity Programs, including the discriminatory singling out of Diversity Directors with mandatory term limits (see impacts on Dr. Almeida and Rohrer below).
 
o   Since winter of 2020 the vitality of the Gender, Women’s, & Sexualities Studies (GWSS) program has been waning by attrition:
 
- On the faculty side, GWSS lost one Full Professor to early retirement and part of another Full Professor to workload reduction beginning fall 2022.  Requests to hire replacements have thus far been rejected, including a Diversity Cluster Hire campus-wide proposal (a collegiate best practice) endorsed by 19 Chairs/Directors, 2 Associate Deans, and the then President of the Faculty Organization (https://bit.ly/3vSM2WL).

- On the staff side, GWSS lost one full-time staff person to promotion in October 2021 and the full-time Women’s and Gender Education (WAGE) Center Manager is leaving at the end of May 2022. This leaves GWSS with no permanent staff.  

o   Both the Africana and Chicanx Studies programs are currently directed by untenured, impermanent faculty. The current Interim Director of Chicanx is leaving for another institution.
 
o   The American Indian Studies program (AISP) has been chronically understaffed for over two decades with no tenure-track/tenured faculty other than the Director
 
o   Dr. Deirdre Almeida, who was hired as American Indian Studies program (AISP) Director in 2001, was informed February 8, 2022 that her directorship is terminating July 1, 2022 and that administration is currently seeking a new AISP Director.

o   Dr. Judy Rohrer, who was hired as Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies program (GWSS) Director in 2018, has been told by her Deans that her directorship will end in 2024.

We have gone through proper institutional channels seeking redress and correction.  We’ve appealed to the revolving door of higher administration and to the Faculty Organization and the United Faculty of Eastern.  We have seen no substantive changes.  For the sake of the future of the institution, we are now making these issues more public and asking for faculty, staff, student and community support.

We call on EWU’s incoming President Dr. Shari McMahan to:
 
○   Immediately cease and desist the removal of Dr. Deirdre Almeida from Directorship of the American Indian Studies program (AISP) by stopping the implementation of the Academic Program Directors MOU against the Diversity Programs;

 ○  State unequivocally that EWU’s executive leadership will not consolidate the four autonomous Academic Diversity programs, but rather will support the continued autonomy, vitality and sustainability of these programs. This should be done with consideration of the overall impact these programs have on the underrepresented students and communities they serve;

○   Support the Diversity Programs in hiring or promoting faculty and staff to bring all four programs to sustainable levels given their curricular, student, and community or tribal responsibilities and commitments;

○   Support UFE–EWU negotiations on codifying protections for the Diversity Programs with full participation of the four Diversity Directors
 

Petition developed by the following concerned faculty:
Deirdre Almeida, Director, American Indian Studies (GWSS Affiliated Faculty)
Kevin Decker, Professor, Philosophy
Mimi Marinucci, Professor, Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies and Philosophy
Judy Rohrer, Director, Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies
Jeff Stafford, Professor, Leadership & Organizational Communication
Deborah Svoboda, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Social Work (GWSS Affiliated Faculty)
Christina Valeo, Professor, English (GWSS Affiliated Faculty)