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For the seventh year in a row, the 51��Ƶ at Lafayette has earned the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

UL Lafayette is among 114 colleges and universities to receive the 2024 HEED Award from the largest diversity magazine and website in higher education. Recipients will be featured in the November / December issue.

HEED honorees are chosen based on a comprehensive and rigorous application process, according to a press release. Factors considered include retention and recruitment of students and employees, leadership support for initiatives and programs, and campus culture and climate.

“Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across campuses,” stated Lenore Pearlstein, the magazine’s publisher, in the release. 

Kiwana McClung, who leads the University’s Office for Campus Inclusion as chief inclusion officer, said the consistent recognition is a result of University-wide efforts to foster access, opportunity and success for all students.

“Consistent HEED recognition signals that our University cares about ensuring that our students feel included, and seen, and that they belong. But beyond that, it points to an enduring commitment to inclusiveness, opportunity and success,” McClung explained.

Essential to that commitment is UL Lafayette’s Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence, which sets forth campus-wide objectives for bolstering programs and resources that promote equity and inclusion.

Campus Climate Surveys coordinated by the Office for Campus Inclusion to gauge insights into the experiences and perceptions of students and employees are also integral, McClung added. The surveys help to inform initiatives, policies and practices to address the needs of the entire campus community. 

McClung cited the growth and evolution of many programs and initiatives across campus that enhance inclusiveness and that contributed to this year’s HEED recognition. Among them are the Courageous Conversations series, the First to Geaux initiative, Project ALLIES and the Women’s Leadership Conference.
 
Partnerships with organizations, departments and programs across campus also factored in heavily. McClung singled out the University’s . The four-year residential scholar program is in place to help academically accomplished, lower-income students remain in college. 
 
She also cited collaboration with the Office of First-Year Experience, which offers a range of resources and academic and co-curricular programs designed to help students of all backgrounds transition to college. 
 
“Inclusiveness involves discovering, appreciating and leveraging the rich diversity of our campus community, and we try to reinforce the importance and significance of that in our students as soon as they step on campus,” McClung explained.
 
“It’s something we’re dedicated to and that we’re going to remain dedicated to,” she added.

Photo caption: For the seventh year in a row, UL Lafayette has earned the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award, or HEED Award. The recognition is based on University programs, initiatives and resources that advance access, opportunity and success for all students. Photo credit: Paul Kieu / 51��Ƶ at Lafayette