For the sixth consecutive year, UNC Greensboro received the 2023 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not simply what we do at UNCG – it is who we are. As one of the most diverse, public universities in North Carolina, UNCG is honored to receive the 2023 HEED Award,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “This recognition is a testament to our collective and tenacious focus on providing access and opportunity for all as evident by our status as a minority-serving institution and emerging Hispanic-serving institution.”
The HEED Award is further validation of UNCG’s embedded inclusive excellence approach and the engagement and leadership of faculty, staff, and students at all levels of the University.
An embedded inclusive excellence approach depends on multi-tiered formal and informal leadership and change agents, creating multiple pathways for integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion. These efforts are embedded synergistically within our culture and values, institutional practices, and the collaborative social relations and networks we build to advance our institutional mission.
“We demonstrate every day how equity, diversity, and inclusion further our institutional mission, support student success and belonging and drive excellence,” said Dr. Andrea Hunter, chancellor’s fellow for campus climate. “We are distinguished not only by the diversity of our student body but also by how we lead in faculty diversity and excellence, inclusive pedagogy, teaching, and curriculum and cultivate an inclusive campus climate and a sense of belonging among our students. All of this is made possible not by the few but the many—and for me, this is the UNCG way; it is our secret sauce.”
As a recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — UNCG will be featured, along with 108 other recipients, in the November/December 2023 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — leadership support for diversity, campus culture and climate, supplier diversity, and many other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”
For more information about the 2023 HEED Award, visit insightintodiversity.com.
Story by Avery Craine Powell, University Communications
Photography by Jiyoung Park
