Hope College has received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for the third year in a row from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
As a 2024 recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — Hope will be featured, along with the other 112 recipients, in the November/December 2024 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
“This is very exciting,” said Dr. Sonja Trent-Brown, who is vice president for culture and inclusive excellence at Hope. “A Hope College three-peat! To be recognized with the HEED Award for the third consecutive year is a testament to the continued efforts and engagement of Hope students, staff, and faculty in creating a faithful, welcoming, and transformational campus community, aligned with Hope’s Christian Aspirations. The opportunity to learn and grow alongside our talented students and our expert faculty and staff colleagues is a blessing. Each person’s contribution to the Hope community is a gift to us all.”
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selects the HEED Award recipients based on its review of several criteria that together demonstrate a holistic commitment to equity, access, inclusion and diversity across their campus.
“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — leadership support for diversity, campus culture and climate, supplier diversity, and many other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”
Highlights among the many elements contributing to Hope being recognized for the award for the third consecutive year include programs such as the “Hope Forward” initiative, currently being piloted, that seeks to enhance access to a Hope education regardless of financial circumstances by fully funding for all students through a pay-it-forward model; Steps2Success, which helps incoming students from diverse backgrounds build connections and establish a sense of community, belonging and support during their transition to Hope College; Hope’s student organizations and clubs, including the Multicultural Student Organizations (MSOs); and the Hope-Western Prison Education Program that provides a Christian liberal arts education to men incarcerated at Muskegon Correctional Facility.
The recognition also reflects the wide range of initiatives and practices throughout the college for students, faculty and staff, and others, such as the Business Services vendor information form updates; the Human Resources benefits review process and new job posting providers; faculty and staff active recruitment efforts at conferences and institutes; search committee training that increases awareness of the potential influences of implicit bias impacting search and hiring decisions; the 40th anniversary celebration of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI); the efforts of Disability and Accessibility Resources to encourage an inclusive environment by supporting self-advocacy and providing information and resources to faculty, staff and students about disabilities in the context of diversity; admissions recruitment goals to increase the diversity of the student body and a designated role focused on this goal, the assistant director of admissions and multicultural recruitment, which provides leadership for the Multicultural Recruitment Team within the admissions staffing; the safeties coach/special teams coordinator role that works in conjunction with Athletics and CDI; the Staff Advisory Group as a pipeline for staff and administration communication; listening sessions conducted between the provost and women faculty; Culture Action Team awards for staff and faculty, including a new Team Recognition category for contributing positively to campus culture, inclusion, diversity, equity and/or accessibility; that Hope takes service into account as part of the faculty tenure and promotion process; Public Affairs and Marketing website accessibility and representation updates via social media platforms; the First-Year Seminar Anchor Plan Human Diversities Core Module; the Campus Ministries Social Justice Team; the Center for Global Engagement; the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career providing resources for best practices for diversity in the workplace, and supports related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace for interviewing processes; access to online and in-person professional development opportunities such as CQ Cultural Intelligence; and campus climate surveys for staff, faculty and students.
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the leader in advancing best practices in DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in higher education. Through print and online articles, INSIGHT Into Diversity shares expert advice, valuable resources, in-depth profiles of top DEI programs at colleges and universities, headline news, and more to help keep its readers informed and empower them to advance DEI initiatives at their institutions. To further its mission, the magazine established the HEED Award in 2012. The HEED Award is the only national honor to recognize institutions of higher education for their outstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
More information about the 2024 HEED Award is available at insightintodiversity.com, where current, archived, and digital issues of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine are also available.