www.insightintodiversity.com March 2021 $3.99 The Future of DEI Training Will universities say goodbye to traditional diversity training and embrace the virtual reality revolution? ALSO IN THIS ISSUE White enrollment at HBCUs is on the rise Public policy schools innovate for racial justice THE HEART TO STEP UP Public administration – in many ways, it is The Martin School makes its goals clear: the art and practice of making things work. “Both historical and current policies may create The delivery of basic services to people who or perpetuate inequity through institutional depend on them … The extension of health care and structural racism, income inequality, to those who cannot afford it … The creation and gender bias, and more,” the school’s diversity implementation of more efficient and effective statement says. “The Martin School can help programs and initiatives – in public, private and our students and alumni confront inequity as non-profit sectors. we train them in their coursework and as we support them in their careers” At the University of Kentucky, the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration is consistently It’s an understanding that the art and practice ranked among the best in the country for of making things work only happens when the graduate programs. door is open wide for everyone to participate and benefit. But now the school is expanding its reach. It’s the same commitment that exists It’s added an undergraduate degree in public throughout the University of Kentucky – an policy. And it is thoughtfully working to ensure that Insight into Diversity Diversity Champion studies and careers are open to people from more for four years running. diverse and often underrepresented backgrounds. 20 20 20-11xxx OID | Insight Into Diversity MARCH.indd 1 2/1/21 3:45 PM In this issue March 2021 37 Special Report: Schools of Public Policy and Public Administration 20 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Struggle In Brief: Schools of Public Policy and Public with Accessibility Issues During Pandemic 38 Administration Diversity and Inclusion By Lisa O’Malley News Roundup 22 New Immigration Policies, Recruiting Strategies Offer Hope for International Enrollment Social Justice Education in Public Policy Schools By Lisa O’Malley 40 is Crucial for the Nation’s Future By Erik Cliburn and Mariah Bohanon Restoring Inmate Access to Pell Grants is an 26 Important Step in Criminal Justice Reform By Mariah Bohanon Renowned Public Policy Institute Uses Research 44 to Advocate for LGBTQ Equality By Lisa O’Malley and Mariah Bohanon HBCUs Are Becoming More Diverse — 28 But Not Everyone Considers That a Good Thing By Mariah Stewart 32: Cover STORY Virtual Reality Could Be the Future of DEI Training By Erik Cliburn insightintodiversity.com 3 Removing barriers to education. THAT’S OUR COMMITMENT. Recognizing and appreciating the value of diversity and cross-cultural understanding is critical to the University of Georgia’s mission. For seven consecutive years, we have been recognized for our efforts to provide an inclusive, welcoming environment for our entire campus community. There’s more work to be done, and we’re committed to doing it. news.uga.edu/diversity 2020 ® Top Colleges for Diversity ALSO In THIS Issue March 2021 Volume 96 No. 6 50 Crestwood Executive Center, Suite 526 St. Louis, Missouri 63126 314.200.9955 • 314.756.2036 FAX In Brief [email protected] [email protected] www.insightintodiversity.com 6 Diversity and Inclusion News Roundup © 2021 Potomac Publishing, Inc. Contacts: New Directions Lenore Pearlstein | Publisher Holly Mendelson | Publisher Mariah Bohanon | Senior Editor 10 Leaders on the Move Daniel Hecke | Creative Director Debra Boyd | Director of Operations Lisa O’Malley | Assistant Editor Mariah Stewart | Senior Staff Writer Erik Cliburn | Senior Staff Writer 14 Biden’s Education Department Expected to Prioritize Educational Equity By Mariah Bohanon Editorial Board: Linda Akutagawa Kenneth J. Barrett LeManuel Bitsóí, EdD Elissa H. Buxbaum 16 Higher Education Works with Limited Federal Relief to Help Students in Need Lynette Chappell-Williams, JD By Erik Cliburn Deborah Dagit Sonja Feist-Price, PhD James A. Felton III Cheryl Gonzalez, EdD Gretchel Hathaway, PhD Erika Henderson, EdD Monthly Observance: Women’s History Month Lisa McBride, PhD Ajay Nair, PhD Nereida Perez 18 100 Years After the Passage of the 19th Amendment, Clyde Wilson Pickett, EdD Women Dominate at the Polls Menah Pratt-Clarke, PhD Shirley J. Wilcher, JD By Mariah Bohanon Closing INSIGHT The views expressed in the content of the articles and advertisements published in INSIGHT Into Diversity are those of the authors 50 Ohio University Finds Innovative Way to Celebrate and are not to be considered the views MLK Day During COVID-19 expressed by Potomac Publishing, Inc. Diversity Champions INSIGHT Into Diversity | insightintodiversity.com 5 IN BRIEF U.S. Army Introduces New Grooming Code Aimed at Inclusivity The U.S. Army recently announced a there are restrictions on the size and branch, said in a press release. “If we new set of grooming standards that are spacing of those hairstyles. The new care about people first and the Soldier designed to be more inclusive by offering policy lifts those constraints. [sic] as a whole, we have to care about soldiers some flexibility when it comes “Our identity is important,” Sgt. the many aspects of who they are as to hairstyles, makeup, and jewelry. Maj. Brian Sanders, senior enlisted well. This is a small but significant Beginning on February 25, women leader of Army G-1’s uniform policy change that positively impacts a will be allowed to wear “non-extreme” considerable size of our force.” lipstick, nail polish, and earrings. Men In addition to the grooming will be allowed to wear clear nail polish. policies, the Army also announced the Women will also have more options removal of words such as “Mohawk, when it comes to hairstyles, including Fu Manchu, dreadlock, eccentric, and highlights and ponytails as long as faddish,” from its grooming code, they “maintain a neat and professional calling the phrases “potentially offensive appearance” and the ponytail “doesn’t and weaponized.” impede the use of headgear or other “This is how we shift the culture and equipment,” according to the Army embrace forward thinking,” Sanders News Service. They will also no longer said. “It is time to dig deeper and use our have to abide by a minimum length lexicon and vocabulary to describe what requirement for hair. is authorized and what does not conform Under the Army’s current grooming to a professional military appearance, standards, soldiers are allowed to have good order, and discipline.”● braids, twists, locs, and cornrows, but Via Twitter Read, Watch, Listen READ: Broke: The Racial Consequences WATCH: Giving Voice LISTEN: Code Switch: A Decade of Underfunding Public Universities Giving Voice documents the of Watching Black People Die University of California, Merced scholars experiences of thousands of The wildly popular podcast Code Laura T. Hamilton and Kelly Nielsen explore high school students from Switch.— which centers on race, how underrepresented students are negatively diverse backgrounds as they identity, and society — hit a milestone affected by a higher education system that audition for the annual on June 1 when it reached the top increasingly targets them for recruitment while August Wilson Monologue spot on Apple’s podcast chart one day failing to provide the services they need to Competition, which celebrates after airing the episode “A Decade succeed. Hamilton and Nielsen focus specifically Wilson’s 10-play American of Watching Black People Die.” The on campuses within their own university system Century Cycle. The playwright 22-minute segment, released less than a to show how postsecondary education has behind Fences and Ma Rainey’s week after the police killing of George evolved from relying on the tax dollars of the Black Bottom, Wilson was Floyd, reflects on prior coverage of the many to fund the education of an elite few to revered for his ability to murder of African Americans at the become the underfunded, yet more diverse — capture the Black American hands of law enforcement to illustrate if not inclusive — institutions of today. Broke experience on stage. As Giving how violence towards Black people has ends with a plea and proposed plan for breaking Voice reveals, his work continues become normalized in the U.S. The this cycle as well as a methodological appendix to inspire and empower a new episode’s historical significance also by the authors — both White — on how generation of underrepresented recently landed it the number two spot they approach the study of race. Published by performers. Available on Netflix on Spotify’s hand-picked 2020 Podcast University of Chicago Press Hall of Fame list. Available on npr.org/ podcasts and all major podcast apps 6 March 2021 International Transgender Day of Visibility Will Be Held on March 31 March 31, 2021, will mark the 12th which mourns the victims of hate Alphonso David, president of the annual International Transgender crimes and violence, according to LGBTQ advocacy group The Human Day of Visibility (TDoV). The event Queerhombolt.org, an online resource Rights Campaign, encouraged others celebrates the resilience and success of for the LGBTQ community. to use TDoV as an opportunity to transgender and gender nonconforming Though the COVID-19 pandemic learn from the pride and resilience of people and raises awareness of has limited in-person celebrations the transgender community. “As we transgender rights. for TDoV 2021, some organizations celebrate [TDoV], we must never TDoV was founded by activist and higher education institutions are forget those who still feel invisible Rachel Crandall in 2009. Crandall working within the restrictions to even in their own communities and was inspired by the fact that there shine a light on transgender rights.