In June of 2023, Biola University President Dr. Barry Corey released an internal email statement announcing the closure of the centralized Division of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and the opening of the decentralized Unity in Diversity Advisory Council. In an internal email last Thursday, the president introduced Talbot chair and professor of theology Dr. Uche Anizor as his co-chair to lead the council. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to disband all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
In this episode, host Reagan Glidewell interviews junior psychology major Ashley Newman about her letter to the Office of the President published in The Chimes last Friday, and the implications of a decentralized D&I office at Biola. Last academic school year, Newman served as the Vice President of D&I for Biola’s Student Government Association (SGA). She shares her perspective as a student who worked closely with Biola’s D&I division and explains the concerns she included in her letter. They mention Biola’s Unity Amidst Diversity statement and 2021 Strategic Diversity Plan.
More information about this week’s headlines: Biola University clubs; Sudan famine; President Biden pardons
Find more stories at The Chimes’ website. Find the transcript for this episode here.
Creators & Guests
Producer
Reagan Glidewell
Producer of The Chimes Weekly podcast
What is The Chimes Weekly?
Bite-sized podcast episodes with your top news stories from The Chimes, Los Angeles County, the nation and the world, with an interview with a Chimes writer to close out your week.
By Biola University students, for Biola University students. Previously known as Chimes Rundown and KBR Daily News Updates by KBR The Torch.
>> Reagan Glidewell: From the Torch Podcast Network. This is the Chimes Weekly. I'm Reagan Glidewell reporting from Biola University. It's Friday, January 24th.
>> Ashley: Unfortunately, D&I has been something that's been politicized when stuff that D&I does, especially at Biola, is relatively neutral.
>> Reagan Glidewell: Later on, we will hear more from junior Psychology major Ashley Newman about her open letter to the university president in the Chimes. She voiced her concerns about the decentralization of the Diversity and Inclusion Office at Biola. But first, here's this week's headlines. On Thursday, Biola's Office of Campus Engagement hosted its annual night market that featured Asian and Pacific Islander food, entertainment and educational activities. Next Wednesday, January 29, Biola's involvement fair will host various programs, clubs and organizations on campus for students to explore. For a full list of clubs and programs, including the Accounting Club, Swing Dance Club and the Unicycle Club, see the show notes. Biola President Barry Corey released a statement on Sunday with regard to the decentralization of the Diversity and Inclusion Office. The University Cabinet appointed Dr. Uche Anizor, professor of Theology, to co chair the Unity in Diversity Council with Corey. Together, they will continue to discuss the addition of more council members. About 460,000 gallons of sewage spilled near Laguna Niguel Regional park due to a sewer main break. Waters between Treasure Island and Table Rock are closed as of January 14th. Nearly two weeks ago, fires erupted in LA county, causing immense destruction across the cities. However, the Eaton Fire is now 89% contained, while the Palisades Fire is 63% contained. Various evacuation areas within Altadena and the Pacific Palisades have been lifted. Santa Ana winds will continue within the forecast over the next few days, threatening possible wildfires in the future. TikTok went black the evening of January 18, shutting down a couple hours prior to the scheduled date of January 19. The ban lasted only a few hours as TikTok resurfaced in normal condition and function the next morning. The company gave its thanks to incoming President Trump, who delayed the ban for 75 days as of Monday. The app was believed to be in interference with the Chinese government and a threat to national security. On Monday, President Trump was sworn in for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. Due to freezing weather conditions in Washington, D.C. the inauguration moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda. In his last 20 minutes in office, President Biden pardoned five members of his family. According to the New York Times, President Biden did not pardon his family because they did anything wrong, but rather out of fear of political attacks from the incoming president. On his first day in office, President Trump signed multiple executive orders, some of which face legal backlash. Some of the most prominent include a withdrawal from the International Climate Agreements and the World Health Organization, a sweeping pardon of January 6th Capitol rioters, a delay of the TikTok ban and an end to federal DEI programs. A further executive order redefining birthright citizenship was also signed, facing legal challenges as it undermines the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment. As of this past Tuesday, 22 states filed lawsuits challenging the order. Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal that began on January 19th. The first three hostages were released by Hamas, with the remaining 30 to be released over a six week period. In return, the Israeli government released 90 Palestinians, all of which were women and children. The famine crisis in Sudan is in danger of rapidly increasing. Since the war between the rapid support forces and Sudanese armed forces began April 2023, over one million refugees have fled to South Sudan. A recent UN backed report stated that 24.6 million Sudanese, which is about half the population, are facing food shortages. The crisis is being declared as having unprecedented mass displacement, breakdown of social services and poor humanitarian access. That's it for this week's headlines. Next up, I'll talk with Chimes guest writer Ashley Newman about her recent article reacting to the decentralization of D & I efforts at Biola. Here's my conversation with Ashley. Hi, Ashley. Thanks for joining me.
>> Ashley: Hi, Reagan Thanks for having me.
>> Reagan Glidewell: So we know this letter has been in the works for a while. Tell us a little bit about why you decided to write this story.
>> Ashley: Yeah, I mean, part of it was um I had worked in D&I last year. I was the VP for D&I for SGA and I'd work closely with the D&I division in that role. So I was pretty sad to see them go and pretty frustrated. And it just felt like no one had known that they'd left, even though there obviously was the email sent by the president. But no one had really like, acknowledged that they'd left. Just like the general campus felt like it didn't care. And that was really frustrating to me. And I think part of it was also just like, oh, uh, the campus doesn't even know what this division does. So I was like, well, I might as well write an article. Um, so I just went for it.
>> Reagan Glidewell: Yeah. No relating to that, what is D&I? If you could explain it?
>> Ashley: Yeah. Um, so D&I stands for Diversity and Inclusion. And it looks very, very, very different across different places. And I think that's something that people get really caught up on. Uh, D& I is going to look super different at UCLA than it does here. Um, and that's for a variety of reasons. So what they were doing was the Strategic Diversity Plan, which is also available online. And it's not the complete plan, but it has the outline of the plan. And I think if you look over that, you can kind of begin to understand, like, what does institutional change actually mean? Becausee that's also kind of a vague phrase, right? Like, anytime someone says, like, institutional da, da da da da da, my mind is going like, lady dadi da. You know, I'm not really here. Um, but what D& I did at Biola was mainly that. And there is the student facing side of D&I which is SEID, and that is still around, and that's much more on the ground. They have a scholarship program. They do gospel choir. Uh, they run First Gen Like, there's a lot of programs that they're doing that is on the ground that you can see.
>> Reagan Glidewell: Yeah. And I kind of want to take you back to June of this past summer when we found out. So Dr. Barry Corey sent out an email announcing the decentralization of the Diversity and Inclusion Office here at Biola. So can you tell us about some of the thoughts and emotions you experienced, uh, when you first opened and read that email? I mean, you're heavily involved with the program.
>> Ashley: I was surprised in that I hadn't heard that this was in the works, like, even an inkling, it didn't seem like the D&I division was getting ready to transition out when I was working with them. Um, and maybe that was just, I'm a student, they wouldn't tell me these things. But I think the worst part about the word decentralization is an effort to put a positive spin on something that is clearly a negative thing. Do you know what I mean? So it wasn't like, oh, we're so thankful for Tamara and her team and for what she's done. And we're really sorry that this is the way that things have to go. And here's why. It was like, oh, we're really sorry Tamara and her team had to go, but we think that we can do it better.
>> Reagan Glidewell: Can you explain also a little bit about how you specifically got involved in the D&I office and program here at Biola?
>> Ashley: Yeah. So, um, I'm a junior right now, and in my sophomore year, I started working as the D& I coordinator, which works under the VP of D&I. So I came on with that role and the VP of D&I had to step down, um, at that time. So midway through the year, so around December, I stepped up into her role, um, and I became the VP of D&I / also the D& I coordinator at the same time. So because of that, I began to get involved with the D&I division again. I was coming on as a coordinator, like, it wasn't like, oh, this is my passion. I'm an expert in this. Um, but the job really, like, introduced me to what D&I and I actually meant. And actually, like, a lot of the assumptions I had were also dispelled, right? I'm also a global student, so I'd been involved with what was called GSPD at the time. I'd been involved with GSPD which is kind of like a finger of the D&I world. So I kind of knew that side of things, and I was introduced to SEID along the way.
>> Reagan Glidewell: In your article, you wrote that without one specific person with expertise and power, there is no singular person to turn to for information aid or accountability. So what does that mean for Biola?
>> Ashley: I think it means a lack of effectiveness. For example, let's say a faculty member has been making some statements that are a little insensitive. It's in their PowerPoints that they're teaching to students. Some students have said some things. And so it's like, okay, the council now will do something. It's like, what does that even mean? There's not a singular person who it's like, okay, I'm going to talk to Tamara and Tamara, because she has a high position at this school, can hold this person to account and say, hey, you can't do this. That's what accountability looks like, right? So if you have a council, it's like, oh, we're going to send a fellow professor to go and talk to you, right? Like, that's weird. But what it also means is that stuff just becomes less effective, right? So they're like, oh, okay, we have the Strategic Diversity Plan. We're going to fulfill it with the council. Here it says that we are going to have regular HR training that is done. Okay, who's actually going to do that HR training? Who has the expertise to do that HR training? A vague council that's a conglomerate of voices, which it hasn't even been specified what the council will do, right? So what will eventually happen is people are going to be like, D&I is not doing anything. This D& I Council isn't getting anything done. And then it'll eventually be phased out, in my opinion, right? Because it's like, oh, it's not effective. I don't know why we're putting money into this. This is weird. We have to pay people for extra hours, and then it just kind of goes away. It kills the effectiveness. It kills accountability, power, all of these things.
>> Reagan Glidewell: You said you weren't necessarily passionate about D&I in the beginning, when you first got involved. Has that changed after your time, uh, working with them? And how has that changed?
>> Ashley: It definitely has changed. I feel passionate about D &I because I actually have an understanding of what they do. D & I is about learning how to love your neighbor well, but I think seeing the specific instances where there are gaps has given me, like, a tangible understanding of where D& I steps in. Again, there are really bad models of D&I out there, and there are really good ones. And unfortunately, D&I has been something that's been politicized when the actual on, um, the ground stuff that D& I does, especially at Biola, is relatively neutral, to be honest. Like, if you look over the D&I like the Strategic Diversity Plan, again, I encourage people to look at this because I think most people would not have a problem with it and would actually see it as a good thing and as a really healthy thing for our school to do. So I just ask for an openness of mind and of heart and to actually look at what D&I does and not just what they feel that D& I does. Do you know what I mean?
>> Reagan Glidewell: Awesome. Thank you. Reagan Glidewell for the Chimes Weekly. Thank you so much for your time.
>> Ashley: Thank you for having me.
>> Reagan Glidewell: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the show, leave us a review and share it with a friend or roommate. To follow the stories we covered in this week's episode and read Ashley's story, see the show notes. You can find her story at Chimesnewspaper.com This episode was produced by Reagan Glidewell with international headlines written by Izah DeFigh engineered by Hope Li and Jason Lee, with music from Warner Chappell productions. I'm Reagan Glidewell We'll see you next week.