About

The Mission of GSU is to promote diversity and foster equity. The philosophy, strategic plan, and practices inherent at GSU embody this ideal by encouraging us to pursue the goals of diversity, inclusion, and equity as essential components of creating education that transforms; connections that endure and communities that flourish. 

An inclusive excellence framework is designed to support the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts into the core functions and operations of the university while advancing our efforts to obtain educational excellence through GSU’s four DEI goals:

• Goal 1: Improve recruitment, retention, persistence, completion, and advancement of students from underrepresented communities.

• Goal 2: Improve the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty and staff from underrepresented communities.

• Goal 3: Support inclusive excellence within the formal curriculum and with our co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.

• Goal 4: Engage with our alumni and with local, national, and international communities to encourage the pursuit of inclusive excellence beyond the boundaries of GSU

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What's New?

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Upcoming Events

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Please join us in an authentic dialogue and celebration in honor of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development on Wednesday, May 24^th, highlighting the richness of GSU’s cultures and the essential role of intercultural dialogue in achieving an inclusive campus.  

DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 2023, | 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. | G-Atrium

Click here to RSVP by May 18th

Cultural Appetizers will be served.  

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Chicago Southland Educator Consortium Annual Conference 

Governors State University Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), in partnership with the College of Education (COE), presents the first annual conference in the Chicago Southland to address strategies to increase teacher diversity. GSU will provide opportunities by which PK-22 district leaders, elected officials, representatives from regional offices, educator preparers, and educator candidates will increase their knowledge and expand their toolkit of effective collaborative strategies to address the teacher shortage. 

For the most updated information on this event, please visit our DEI events webpage. 

 Date:   Thursday, June 15^th, 2023

                8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

                Governors State University

                1 University Parkway, University Park

                Hall of Governors 

Caught Being Good

Were you Caught Being Good? If you were caught being good by one of the DEI Council or President's Cabinet members, you received a special card to redeem for a special gift for making GSU proud. Click this DEI initiative link for details on how to redeem your special gift.

DEI Council Meetings

3rd Fridays at 1:00 p.m.

DEI Mini-Grants

Governors State University (GSU) enthusiastically invites applications for the 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Mini-Grant. In keeping with GSU’s mission, we have dedicated $25,000.00 in institutional grant funding to “demonstrate inclusiveness and diversity to encourage acceptance of wide-ranging perspectives among students, staff, faculty, and members of the broader community” and our institutional commitment to fostering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across the GSU community, and the goals and objectives of the Strategy 2025.

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have created five (5) DEI Mini-Grants up to $5,000.00 to individuals or groups to support efforts by GSU’s faculty, staff, and student organizations that strive to help GSU become a “model for belonging, inclusivity, and equity in a diverse community.” This initiative serves two purposes: (1) provide seed funding to conduct projects, research projects, resource development, programming, and initiatives that focus on advancing equity and inclusion, belonging, and dismantling racism in its many forms, especially as it relates to teaching and learning environment and (2) to support cross-institutional capacity, mentorship, and community-building in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The DEI Mini-Grants align with four (4) main DEI focus areas and support innovative and GSU community-focus efforts in these areas:

Students

Improve recruitment, retention, persistence, completion, and advancement of students from historically underrepresented communities.

Employees

Improve the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty and staff from historically underrepresented communities

Curriculum

Support inclusive excellence within the formal curriculum and with our co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.

Community

Engage with our alumni and with local, national, and international communities to encourage the pursuit of inclusive excellence beyond the boundaries of GSU.

Timeline

January 2023	Preview Announcement
February 14, 2023	Proposals Open
March 10, 2023	Virtual Information Session - Recording
March 14, 2023	Letter of Intent Due – recommended but not required
May 5, 2023	Proposals Due
September, 2023	Recipients Announced
AY 23/24	Implementation – September 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024

Click the DEI Initiatives tab for more information and proposal documents

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2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Room D34011

Featuring Guest Dr. Joi Patterson on the topic of Joi Joy @ Work:  Creating an Inclusive Work Environment

Learn more