College of Charleston Office of Institutional Diversity Updates

^{Above: Last month, President Hsu, Chief Diversity Officer Courtney Howard and others joined the 1967 Legacy Scholars at the Mills House Inn for dinner with Bob Johnson, the founder of BET and first African American self-made billionaire. (All photos by Catie Cleveland)}

The Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) works behind the scenes and on the front lines to cultivate a campus environment in which all students, faculty and staff can thrive. Below are some updates from the Office of Institutional Diversity.

Staff Change

In January 2024, the OID welcomed Diane Alvarez as the new director of diversity education and training. Alvarez plans diversity awareness initiatives and is available to provide diversity workshops to faculty, staff and student groups.

Diversity Education

The OID helped the campus observe several awareness days and months this academic year. For International Day for Tolerance (Nov. 16, 2023), virtual trainings to combat Islamophobia and antisemitism were offered. For the spring semester, several awareness calendars featuring events hosted by various departments and programs were prepared.

In partnership with the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and the Black Alumni Council, the OID “showed up for our sisters” by hosting a women’s basketball night in February. The team did not disappoint. It was a competitive game, but the evening ended with a CofC victory!

The OID relaunched its Signature Speaker Series with a focus on engaged conversation. This year featured conversations with S.C. Senator Deon Tedder, celebrity fashion designer Etu Evans, MUSC administrator Dr. Dante Pelzer, entrepreneur Mimi Striplin ’14 and journalist and author Zahra Hankir.

Student Success

The 1967 Legacy Program welcomed its third cohort of students to study and extend the legacy of African American trailblazers on campus and beyond. Valerie Frazier  ’91 (M.P.A. ’94), associate professor of English directs the program, which now includes 29 participants and six peer mentors. This year, 45% of all Legacy Scholars studied abroad, which is comparable to the overall percentage of CofC students who study abroad. By graduating a year early, Amber Anderson will soon make history as the College’s first 1967 Legacy Program graduate.  

This year’s Launchpad for Success program exposed over 30 first- and second-year students to career development resources and skills, site visits to local employers and peer coaching. Several Launchpad students have secured summer internships, employment or study abroad opportunities.

The Crossing the Cistern (CTC) program provided over 50 students with scholarships, activities and initiatives to support their journey to graduation. In addition to the 13 graduates this year, several participants were recognized as outstanding CTC students and two students were selected for an inaugural grant award to support experiential learning opportunities.

The OID partnered with the Google Data Center in Moncks Corner, S.C., to establish a first-of-its-kind Google DEI Data Center Summer Internship program. Five College of Charleston students have been selected to spend six weeks exploring careers at the data center, followed by four weeks completing two Coursera courses. This program is made possible through the generous support of Google.

Campus Initiatives

In January, the College awarded Lauren Herterich, executive director of Kids On Point, the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award for her work to uplift youth from under-resourced neighborhoods. Kids On Point provides after-school and summer programs on the College’s campus and engages many CofC students as volunteers and employees. The award was given during a program celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. that was planned by the Black History Intercollegiate Consortium, comprised of the College of Charleston, The Citadel, MUSC, Trident Technical College and Charleston Southern University.

College of Charleston leadership recently completed a benchmarking exercise to see how campus diversity initiatives compare to a group of peer institutions. The insights learned will help inform future initiatives and priorities, including administering a campus climate survey to better understand how students, staff and faculty perceive and experience the College.

A new Youth and Precollege Programs webpage has been launched to assist individuals looking for youth programs at the College. Additionally, the new website houses the protection of minors compliance process needed to register a youth program.