Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
It has never been more important than now to commit ourselves to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that allow us to build a better School of Communications. The following page outlines the school’s diversity assessment reports, Inclusive Excellence committee, topical programming, Unity in Communications program and #BlackLivesMatter statement. Additionally, the page lists university resources such as the Office of Inclusive Excellence Education & Development (OIEED), Inclusive Excellence website, bias response website and Boldly Elon strategic plan.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan
To successfully incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion into the School of Communications, faculty members adopted a five-year plan in 2023. The 2023 School of Communications DEI plan replaced the school’s 2016-2023 diversity plan – found here.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Reports
The School of Communications initially created its diversity plan in 2004 and has revisited and revised the plan several times in the past two decades. Take a moment to review our most recent reports:
Inclusive Excellence Committee
The Inclusive Excellence Committee is charged with continuing the implementation of the School of Communications diversity plan, investigating ways to enhance the international and domestic initiatives of the plan.
Chair
Committee
Administrative Liaison
Unity in Communications
The School of Communications’ on-campus initiative supports students interested in enhancing diversity and inclusion in the communications and sport management industries. Some of the initiative’s events during the school year include discussions about topics that need to be voiced in the community, dinners to connect students with top communication professionals, and presentations about scholarship, fellowship and internship opportunities in the communications field for students of color. For more information, visit the Unity in Communications webpage.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and efforts
To prepare students for their respective communications industries, the School of Communications hosts panel discussions and events addressing diversity and inclusion initiatives, career advancement, company culture, salaries, industry trends and personal experiences.
2024
- Evelyn Ealey ’26 honored at national PRSSA conference (October 2024)
- Chris Chen explores how racial diversity cues and user feedback shape trust in AI systems (October 2024)
- Elon brings Robin Newton ’07 a SPANing news career (October 2024)
- Unity in Communications strives to be a place where students can ‘simply be themselves’ (September 2024)
- Huemanity of People: Karen Lindsey becomes a guiding light for the next generation (September 2024)
- Lee Bush and Karen Lindsey publish textbook on diversity, equity, and inclusion in strategic communications (August 2024)
- Alonzo Cee ’18 G’20 champions diversity and inclusion on Sesame Street (August 2024)
- Emerging Journalists Program to offer third on-campus program for high school students (June 2024)
- Short documentary by Samantha Katz ’24 earns more than just a grade (June 2024)
- Elon News Network welcomes Burlington-Graham Chapter of Jack & Jill of America, Inc. (May 2024)
- School of Communications to host Pulitzer-winning photojournalist for May 1 lecture (April 2024)
- Vanessa Bravo named assistant dean in the School of Communications (April 2024)
- School of Communications hosts inaugural Spotlight on DEI event (February 2024)
2023
- WINS Forum embraces ‘Leading with Boldness’ theme (November 2023)
- Jenny Jiang, Qian Xu publish research examining #BlackLivesMatter and #StopAsianHate hashtags (November 2023)
- Journalism major presents border crisis reporting at Pulitzer Center in Washington, D.C. (October 2023)
- Chloe Franklin ’24, Naomi Washington ’24 attend NABJ convention in Birmingham (August 2023)
- Donelle Leak ’25, Cristy Mariné ’25 named LAGRANT Foundation scholars (August 2023)
- Emerging Journalists Program’s Immersion cohort exhibits curiosity and potential (July 2023)
- Journalists from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka visit Elon School of Communications (June 2023)
- ElonComm co-sponsors lecture by John Hendrickson, author of ‘Life on Delay’ (March 2023)
2022
- Israel Balderas, Randy Piland collaborate on innovative solution to assist paralyzed student (December 2022)
- Students design Times Square billboard for Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation (December 2022)
- First-generation faculty share motivation behind helping current first-gen students (November 2022)
- Shaina Dabbs, student examine gender disparity and the marketing of basketball programs (September 2022)
- Rich Landesberg, two students attend NABJ/NAHJ convention (August 2022)
- Unity LA diversity initiative hosts ‘Strong Black Lead’ event (March 2022)
- Tony Weaver and fellow faculty members receive grant to support Black student-athletes (March 2022)
Additionally, the school hosted hosted a Diversity and Inclusion in News Coverage luncheon (photos) in November 2019 as part of the programming for the 2019 National High School Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted in collaboration with Pitney Bowes on the top floor of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
#BlackLivesMatter Statement
Dear Elon Community,
The deans of the schools and colleges at Elon University stand unequivocally united against racism and police brutality. We believe Black Lives Matter. We are working to ensure our faculty and staff colleagues are better equipped to teach and lean into conversations that will help our nation and world change for the better. Hold us accountable to promote diversity and inclusion. Hold us accountable for recruiting and retaining diverse students, faculty and staff. Hold us accountable for meeting our diversity and inclusion goals. We are here to support our students, our faculty and our staff colleagues. We will work in our personal and professional spheres to make a difference.
Sincerely,
Luke Bierman, Ph.D., JD, dean, School of Law
Ann Bullock, Ph.D., dean, Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education
Rochelle L. Ford, Ph.D., APR, dean, School of Communications
Rebecca Neiduski, Ph.D., OTR/L, CHT, dean, School of Health Sciences
Gabie Smith, Ph.D., dean, Elon College of Arts and Sciences
Raghu Tadepalli, Ph.D., dean, Love School of Business
—Originally published on June 1, 2020
Additional School Resources
- WEEE website: The Women of the Elon Entertainment Empire – more widely known by the acronym WEEE – is a networking group for Elon alumnae working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and Elon undergraduate students interested in entertainment careers.
- WINS website: In conjunction with the Sport Management Society, Women Influencers in Sport (WINS) offers regular programming to encourage the development and education of female students studying sport management.
University Resources
- Inclusive Excellence website: It is the shared responsibility of Elon University members to act
deliberately toward equitable outcomes. - Office of Inclusive Excellence Education & Development (OIEED) website: The Office of Inclusive Excellence Education and Development serves as an institutional hub for the creation and support of inclusive practice and equity development for all members of the Elon community. It also oversees efforts and policy development for preventing and responding to bias and harassment campus-wide.
- Bias response website: The OIEED provides comprehensive response to issues of violence, bias, harassment and hate.
- Boldly Elon website: The university’s strategic plan for 2030 promotes a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community where all experience belonging and well-being.