President's statement on diversity, equity inclusion (DEI)
Dr. Andrea Talentino, President of Augustana College
January 15, 2025
The mission of Augustana College is grounded in "the inclusive nature of Lutheran education." Martin Luther believed that education should be available to all regardless of gender, age, wealth, or social status. We can add, from our experience over the 165 years of the college’s existence, that education reflecting America’s and even the world’s diversity is also important.
Like many institutions, Augustana’s journey toward diversity began in the 1960s, with numerous efforts to shape a more dynamic learning environment through initiatives to increase enrollment of African-American, Latino and other students who might bring different ways of thinking to the predominantly white, Northern European and Protestant campus community. While these initiatives brought extraordinary students to Augustana – many of whom are among our most accomplished and dedicated alumni – too many found the college lacking in the essentials of belonging. Not being supported and not finding a fit, communities of color at Augustana had persistently low rates of retention and graduation.
Simply having a multiplicity of viewpoints also did not guarantee the dynamic learning environment we sought. The challenge for our community was to move beyond the assertion of our 2004 strategic plan, Authentically Augustana, that "The College’s administration will work with the faculty to better shape the student body to reflect America’s diversity."
These words were important—we do want to reflect diversity—but they were also limiting. Focusing on how our community looks does not change how it feels. As the two decades since the adoption of Authentically Augustana have proved, "diversity" can be viewed as a function of mathematics. But making diversity meaningful to learning is more than numbers, it’s about creating an environment where different viewpoints, habits, and beliefs flourish. Of importance to this community, therefore, is the lesson that “equity and inclusion” are the economics by which diversity becomes both sustainable and strategically valuable. How we look won’t matter if we don’t find ways to make the community belong to, and reflect, all its members.
Early in the twenty-first century, college leaders began to see dividends from efforts to address belonging among our students, as well as a more effective appreciation for equity and inclusion among employees. Whereas previous initiatives sought to get more students of color to enroll, the years 2005 to 2018 saw increased emphasis on student outcomes, particularly those measured by retention and four-year graduation rates. They also saw a growing emphasis on attracting a global student body, which meant thinking broadly about how our standard behaviors and habits welcomed, or not, all types of students.
The hiring of Augustana’s first vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion in 2018 embodies this shift. As a member of the President’s cabinet of senior leaders, Dr. Monica Smith had responsibility for enabling diversity and inclusion not just in recruitment of students, but for the enhancement of belonging and equity across the institution. This included not only work with students, but the hiring, onboarding, and training of employees, all geared toward another goal endorsed by the Augustana Board of Trustees in the strategic plan: “We seek to improve learning by admitting talented students who will contribute to the growth of a dynamic learning community by challenging the status quo.”
This is our most cherished goal for Augustana—to ensure a dynamic learning community in which all members feel equally engaged, see opportunities for themselves, and are able to ask hard questions and seek new answers. That is the learning environment that will prepare them for the world beyond Augustana and continue our legacy of producing impactful citizens.
To achieve that, the work of making Augustana a healthier, more dynamic community continues under Dr. Gauri Pitale, our current vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. As our community continues to grow in its understanding of inclusion to embrace more definitions of diversity, including gender, disability, neurodivergence and, of course, international citizenship and origin, we are also more effective at building an Augustana community of meaning and purpose. We are guided in that pursuit by the Inclusive Excellence framework, which defines success by how well we value, engage, and include our diverse constituents.
We have made great strides since our first efforts in the 1960s, but we know that truly achieving equity and belonging for all is a dynamic and ever-changing process. Augustana is proud of the evolution it has experienced thus far, and we look forward to continued evolution alongside our increasingly diverse community. Whether viewed through the lenses of simple mathematics or transcendent justice, the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion has become, and will remain, authentically part of Augustana’s past and future.