May Words Of Wisdom

News Headlines

By: Joseph B. Pettiford, Jr., Associate Vice President of Human Resources

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has always been a key priority at Howard Community College (HCC). Growing our foundation so that we can pursue new opportunities is something we are investing time and resources into—not because we have to, but instead because we want to. Over the past year, it has been important for our leadership team to identify what DEI is, and what it is not, up front.

DEI is not development of a “one and done” solution; the silver bullet approach is not the answer. It is not a task list or a checkbox, nor can it be embedded into organizational culture as a token initiative. It is not one person or team’s responsibility.



What actually is DEI? It is ongoing, cross-functional, and inclusive work. It requires accountability. And perhaps most importantly, it is never ever “finished.” Instead, it is an ongoing and constant journey.

HCC’s commitment to DEI is visible in many ways. Major recent accomplishments include:

1. Our Diversity Committee was recently rebranded to become the DEI Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Cindy Nicodemus, psychology instructor, and Ms. Crystal Walker, assistant professor of communication. I am mentioning them by name because they are phenomenal leaders who are committed to our goals, and who deserve to be recognized for their efforts. They are facilitating surveys to gather perspective on what the college is doing well, where opportunities exist for improvement, and areas where training for faculty and staff could be impactful. Results are being presented to the President’s Team.
2. We are maintaining a steady drumbeat of content sharing and discussion on topics relevant to DEI in classrooms and virtual discussions. From there, we are encouraging students to take part in “Talking Circles” focused on challenging events and incidents they feel passionately about and want to connect with others on, for deeper discussion. Giving people time and space to connect with others to be heard, listen, and learn, is so important.
3. We hosted 75 diversity events and our first-ever virtual Diversity Week in March 2021, with enhanced offerings. We are carrying key themes and concepts through to other events and activities scheduled throughout the year.
4. We are introducing a dual-credit professional development and diversity option this spring, allowing employees to receive learning credit for engaging in DEI training as part of their ongoing professional development endeavors. The DEI Committee played an instrumental role in building this program and validating tools for outcome measurement in collaboration with HCC experts.
5. We’ve supported the Office of Records, Registration, and Veterans Affairs with helping students have Chosen Name options. Human Resources is planning to test the same chosen name functionality for staff and faculty before moving forward with pronouns. Once this has taken place, we will be able to implement pronouns in both Self Service and Canvas modules through HCC.
6. We’ve hosted presentations to encourage staff and faculty to think differently about how we approach DEI as an organization. Recently, the college invited Dr. Michele Harper as a keynote speaker for a presentation highlighting her book, “Beauty in Breaking.” In it, Dr. Harper shares her experiences as a female, African American, Harvard-trained emergency room physician.

Much work remains to be done. But that is expected, and in fact, ideal. HCC is committed to expanding our DEI offerings on campus and in our community, and is putting the right resources in place to do so. I am proud of how far we have come, and am excited to see how far we can actually go.