{"id":194601,"date":"2026-02-26T10:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194601\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:23:13","slug":"understanding-dei-in-todays-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194601\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding DEI in Today\u2019s Climate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, February 25, 2026<\/p>\n<p>This week, The Equal Opportunity &amp; Diversity Advisory Committee (EODAC) and BCSGA<br \/>\n                        hosted their first Campus Equity Conversation \u2013 a panel discussion intended to deepen<br \/>\n                        understanding, clarify terms, and create space for respectful engagement. The topic<br \/>\n                        of discussion was Why Equity Still Matters: Understanding DEI in Today\u2019s Climate.<br \/>\n                        The panel included Diana Wolf, Adjunct Faculty in Behavioral Science at BC; Manny<br \/>\n                        Mourtzanos, Executive Dean of Instruction at BC; Timothy LaFondez, Program Manager<br \/>\n                        of Tutoring Services at BC; Keith Wolaridge, Associate Professor of Business at BC;<br \/>\n                        and Lawrence Ochoa, current BC student.<\/p>\n<p>The moderator for the event was Gilbert Ayuk, BC Physics Professor. Throughout the<br \/>\n                        event, he would ask specific questions and each panelist was given the chance to respond.<br \/>\n                        He opened the discussion by asking about DEI\u2018s importance in higher education. Diana<br \/>\n                        Wolf was the first to answer, \u201cEquity is giving support where it is needed, and being<br \/>\n                        able to identify where there are barriers that can create unequal opportunity,\u201d she<br \/>\n                        said, \u201cand that can be difficult and challenging.\u201d Timothy LaFondez shared a similar<br \/>\n                        sentiment, \u201cDEI in higher education is not a political concept, but it is a practical<br \/>\n                        concept,\u201d he said, \u201cequity is simply recognizing that we do not start from the same<br \/>\n                        place and allowing avenues for success regardless of background.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each panelist also shared a little of their background, their career paths, and other<br \/>\n                        experiences that shaped their view on equity and inclusion. When asked about practical<br \/>\n                        examples of DEI at BC, Keith Wolaridge shared his perspective, \u201cA specific example<br \/>\n                        of equity, for me as a professor, is meeting students where they are,\u201d he said, \u201cfor<br \/>\n                        example, I don\u2019t think (the cost of) a textbook should stop a student from learning.<br \/>\n                        So, there is the adoption of, or going to, zero-cost textbooks \u2013 that is something<br \/>\n                        specific that we can do to meet our student where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The event concluded with a time of socializing and attendees were invited to enjoy<br \/>\n                        a slice of pizza. Overall, the event provided a great atmosphere to discuss the top<br \/>\n                        of diversity, equity, and inclusion and to focus on why it is an important topic for<br \/>\n                        institutions of higher education. Thank you to all the panelists for taking time to<br \/>\n                        share and to everyone who helped put this event together.<\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dei-panel-Feb2026-news-SQ1.jpg\" alt=\"female talking into a microphone\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dei-panel-Feb2026-news-SQ2.jpg\" alt=\"5 panelists sitting at a table listening to moderator\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wednesday, February 25, 2026 This week, The Equal Opportunity &amp; Diversity Advisory Committee (EODAC) and BCSGA hosted their&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-194601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}