The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Framework

The DEI Office serves as the coordinating center of DEI policies, programs, and practices for the campus, both inside and outside the classroom. We educate and act at individual, institutional, and societal levels for systemic transformation and community healing. We work across all campus constituencies for equity and inclusion, including closing equity gaps; promoting community engagement; sharing promising practices; training against racism and anti-Blackness; and facilitating difficult dialogues.
 
Our vision for the DEI Office and the campus is both simple and ambitious: Sonoma State’s Beloved Community is fully equitable, just, and inclusive, reflecting the diversity of California and welcoming to all who study, work, research, and teach here. But what is SSU’s Beloved Community? The concept is based on Martin Luther King’s “global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth.” Where “all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.” Conflict will be resolved without violence, and no one will go without basic needs, because love, cooperation, and dedication to the greater good will guide the way.

While Dr. King did not believe that the Beloved Community was an unreachable utopia, he did – as we do – understand that real work must be completed to reach such a social state. At SSU we rely on an integrative transformational framework, which identifies four interdependent domains: Personal Mindset and Beliefs; Personal Behavior and Health; Culture; and Systems. These areas gradually move from “I” to “We” to “They,” beginning with the way any one of us may think and act, to shared consciousness and sprawling networks like social media, education, government, the Internet, etc. Within each of these domains are characteristics that both foster and impede a more collaborative, non-violent reality, and all domains interact, most often in ways that discourage disruption and preserve the stability of the status quo. Our work is focused on fostering change in each domain that supports and encourages change in the others, such that there is a paradigm shift toward a more loving, equitable, inclusive campus community. Our Sonoma State Beloved Community.