Equity & Justice: How Your Philanthropy Can Help

Through philanthropic support, we can launch innovative student, faculty and staff training, invest in student spaces on campus, as well as build the endowment to develop sustainable teaching and learning around the critical issues of equity and justice. Our gift officers can discuss how your generosity can make a significant impact on this important College initiative.

Endowed Support for Access and Academic Excellence

Endowed Professorship in Black Studies

Our Black Studies faculty are committed to research, teaching, and community-based advocacy that confronts anti-Blackness and uplifts Black people, and to dismantling barriers that sequester academia and hoard educational resources for the privileged few. Support for Black Studies is thus a critical element of the College’s overall equity and justice efforts, and Oxy has made several recent investments to ensure its success. Launched in 2018 as a program, Black Studies transitioned to departmental status this academic year, and the College has approved plans to hire three new tenure-track faculty in the department in 2021-22. With your gift, you will endow a professorship in Black Studies at Occidental. Your lasting investment will not only enable Oxy to recognize the valuable contributions of an outstanding Black Studies faculty member, but will also fortify the financial foundation of the department. 

Endowed Professorship in Race Studies

Your gift will establish an endowed professorship in race studies at Occidental. This esteemed title will be awarded to a full professor whose scholarly work examines and addresses the implications of race and racial inequities. By providing an indispensable way to honor our exceptional faculty members, the endowment will help Oxy attract and retain excellent professors advancing crucial knowledge in this area. The creation of this endowed professorship will not only underwrite compelling teaching that will influence generations of Oxy students, but it will also send a powerful message about the importance of race studies to the academic curriculum. 

Endowed Scholarship for First-Generation Students

Endowed scholarship funds are critical to Oxy’s efforts to enroll a diverse student body. Your gift will establish a named endowed scholarship with a preference for students with financial need who are the first in their families to attend college. By relieving worry of affordability, this permanent funding source will open doors to an Oxy education for first-generation students—making an incredible difference to recipients and their families. With your help, we can increase dedicated support for the talented first-generation students who greatly contribute to our campus. 

Investments in Student, Faculty and Staff Programming

Multicultural Summer Institute

Endow the Program Occidental’s Multicultural Summer Institute (MSI) is a four-week academic, residential program for incoming first-year students (about 50 each summer) who represent a variety of ethnic, regional, and cultural backgrounds. Established in 1987, MSI challenges students to develop their academic skills while connecting across differences and becoming integrated into the campus community. Overall, MSI students get a head start on their College experience, become familiar with campus services/resources, make lasting friendships, earn 4 credits toward their degree, build support networks, and sharpen their leadership skills. With your gift, you will endow the MSI program at Oxy to ensure the longevity of this program that is a crucial part of participants’ Oxy journeys. At the same time, increased financial resources for the program could, for instance, support its expansion. Overall, this contribution will serve as an investment in the success of MSI students—ensuring they have the comprehensive support needed for a smooth transition to Oxy. In recognition of your remarkable gift, you will have the opportunity to attach a preferred name/designation to the program. 

STEM Equity Summer Program

Pilot Funding As highlighted in Oxy’s Equity and Justice Agenda, the introductory science sequence has traditionally been a place where BIPOC, first-generation, and students from under-resourced high schools struggle. Dedicated programming and support structures are needed to empower underrepresented students to pursue STEM majors, and further institutionalize efforts to ensure these students feel welcomed and supported in these disciplines. Your gift will allow Oxy to pilot a new immersive STEM Equity Summer Program for incoming first-year and transfer students from underrepresented communities. This four-week on-campus summer program will include hands-on research experiences; community-building activities; field trips; and an academic course. Occidental’s STEM faculty are excited about the potential of this program, which will provide up to 20 participants annually with a head start on their Oxy experience, deepen their feelings of belonging by integrating them into the campus community, and nurture their interest in STEM. Funding will enable the College to pilot this exciting new program for three years, supporting related expenses such as compensation for a faculty program director and and participation stipends to ensure access for students from all financial backgrounds. 

Justice, Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity (JEID) Training Program – Start-Up Funding

As a whole, Oxy students possess a deep commitment to JEID, and expect faculty and staff to demonstrate a strong understanding of these issues and to be able to guide nuanced conversations on these topics. Faculty and staff require training and professional development on JEID in order to fulfill this promise, and to successfully support students from marginalized and minoritized identity groups. Your gift in support of a JEID Training Program at Oxy will produce a self-sustaining group of faculty and staff who are trained to facilitate workshops and other JEID professional development opportunities for the entire campus community. This will result not only in a more supportive environment for students from marginalized and minoritized groups, but it will also help prepare students from majority groups to engage with an increasingly diverse world. For the development and implementation of the program, the College will hire a postdoctoral fellow specializing in racial equity education for a three-year engagement, during which they will create a comprehensive facilitation guidebook and other curricular tools tailored for Oxy. Designed with a train-the-trainer framework that will propel it forward for years to come, the program will support the College’s critical aim to create and maintain a campus where all community members feel that they belong. Funding will cover start-up costs for the program, supporting the salary and benefits of the postdoc and providing modest stipends for JEID trainers. 

Investments in Campus Spaces

Intercultural Community Center Naming Opportunity

Established in 1988, the College’s Intercultural Community Center (ICC) seeks to uplift and support the experiences of students who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, low-income, and/or first-generation. Located just across from the main campus, the ICC seeks to provide a home away from home for students from minoritized and marginalized backgrounds. In addition, the ICC strives to provide community-wide resources and opportunities for learning related to social justice, bias, and anti-racism; and space for dialogue to deepen understanding across differences at the College. ICC programming includes, for example, facilitated conversations, the co-curricular portion of the Multicultural Summer Institute (in collaboration with Academic Affairs), and the training of student leaders as Equity Ambassadors to further institutionalize social justice. Your gift will create a named endowed fund to support ICC programming and operations, providing sustainable, critical funding for this Center that is so vital to our students and the College’s overall equity and justice efforts. In recognition of your incredible generosity, you will have the opportunity to name the ICC in your preferred designation. 

MLK Lounge

Occidental’s MLK Lounge is intended as a space where students of color can feel a sense of belonging and community. The lounge is located in Oxy’s Multicultural (Pauley) Hall, a themed living community that centers the experiences of students of color, and prepares them for leadership with an emphasis on social justice and service. In addition to being a popular area for gathering/socializing, the lounge serves as an anchor for student organizations like the Black Student Alliance, and as a crucial space for programming and conversations around diversity, equity, and justice. With your gift, you will establish an endowed fund in support of MLK Lounge to ensure it remains a thriving space for our diverse student body. The fund could support, for example, investments to make the lounge more comfortable/welcoming and expenses related to the meaningful programming that takes place in the space. In recognition of your generous gift, a plaque with your preferred acknowledgement will be installed in the lounge. 

Endowed Fund for an Identity-Based Themed Living Community

The residential experience is a significant part of a student’s time at Oxy. Some students opt to live in the College’s Themed Living Communities (TLCs) that are intended to create strong connections between students by providing educational programming around a shared interest or identity. For instance, Oxy currently has TLCs focused on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ students, Black students, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi-American (APIDA) students, Latinx students, and women students. These rewarding living-learning communities promote not separation but belonging, and provide opportunities to explore one’s identity within a supportive group of peers. Each TLC includes programming that fosters learning, growth, and connection. With your gift, you will establish a named endowed fund for one of Oxy’s existing identity-based TLCs of your choosing. Proceeds will support, for example, dynamic programming for the selected TLC, investments to make the living area more comfortable, and more student resources for the space such as books and computers. In effect, you will directly enrich the college experience for the TLC’s student residents, ensuring they have the opportunity to feel belonging and flourish at Oxy. 

Supporting the Office for Equity and Justice

Endowed Innovation Fund for the VP for Equity and Justice

Your gift will create an endowed innovation fund to support the leadership of Occidental’s VP for Equity and Justice. This permanent investment will empower the VPEJ with increased financial resources to advance causes of equity and justice, particularly anti-racism, at Oxy. Proceeds will support, for example, new recruitment strategies to attract a diverse student body, such as directing admission efforts to previously unexplored geographic areas or developing a summer program for BIPOC high school students. Other possible expenses that will be supported by the fund include programming costs for a themed living community for Black students that promotes belonging, and trainings that support our efforts to develop a campus climate of mutual respect and empathy. 

Named Spend-Down Innovation Fund for the VP for Equity and Justice

With your gift, you will create a named spend-down innovation fund to support the leadership of Occidental’s Vice President for Equity and Justice as described above. Your gift will create an endowed fund in support of equity and justice programming at Oxy and will support events organized by the Intercultural Community Center that encourage learning and promote advocacy, such as speaker series and panel discussions that feature activists working on the frontlines of these issues; events that recognize and celebrate various identities represented on campus, with a focus on fostering mutual respect; or programming that provides space to acknowledge and address injustices from the College’s history or current institutional climate. In effect, you will help preserve this critical programming in Occidental’s financial priorities. At the same time, you will directly further our efforts, under the leadership of the ICC, to develop a campus environment where all members feel welcomed, valued, and that they can excel. 

Named Spend-Down Fund for Equity and Justice Programming

Your gift will create a named spend-down fund to support equity and justice programming led by our Intercultural Community Center, as described above. Your contribution will make an immediate impact, providing vital current-use funding to support Oxy's greatest needs and innovative new initiatives in these areas. 

Faculty Director for Equity & Justice: Pilot Funding

With the creation of the new Office of Equity & Justice, headed by Vice President of Equity & Justice David Carreon Bradley, we aim to infuse equity and justice more deeply into each area of the College—including and especially Academic Affairs. The College’s individual faculty and academic departments often want to engage with justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity (JEID), however, there is currently no designated person for faculty to connect with for resources, knowledge, and support on these issues. Your gift will enable the Office of Equity & Justice (OEJ) to increase its capacity for dedicated academic support in this area by appointing a Faculty Director for Equity & Justice. The Director would, for instance, help guide academic departments on department-specific and cross-departmental JEID initiatives; connect faculty with resources and professional development opportunities on topics like inclusive pedagogy and equity-centered syllabus development; further efforts to synergize JEID work across the campus; and advance Oxy’s goal of increasing faculty diversity by supporting academic departments with inclusive recruitment and hiring practices. Funding will enable the OEJ to pilot this position for five years, supporting compensation for the Director (course releases during the academic year and a summer salary) as well as related professional development and programming expenses.