The task force examined the experiences of API & MENA members of the university community and provided insight into how those experiences could be enhanced.
Elon University is prepared to move forward on recommendations from a task force of students, faculty and staff who examined the experiences of Asian Pacific Islander (API) and Middle Eastern North African (MENA) members of the university community and how those experiences can be enhanced.
The task force was appointed by President Connie Ledoux Book in Fall 2021 in alignment with the goals detailed in Boldly Elon, the university’s 10-year strategic plan, that focus on building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. The task force was chaired by Haya Ajjan, associate dean of the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business, and Qian Xu, professor of strategic communications, and the implementation of the recommendations will be led by Professor of Accounting Catherine Chiang and Associate Professor of Biology Yuko Miyamoto.
“I am so appreciative of the hard work of the task force to explore how we can build community and empowerment within the API and MENA community,” President Connie Ledoux Book said. “These recommendations reflect the lived experiences of members of our own community, and we’re eager to begin the important work of implementation this fall.”
Among the recommendations from the task force are:
- Increase support and mentorship for API and MENA students and support for international faculty
- Create community-building spaces for MENA
- Establish both an employee resource group and an alumni network for members of the API and MENA community
- Revise the Global Experience course to better serve students in their global citizenship journey
- Provide resources for faculty to infuse their courses with API and MENA references and topics
- Increase the cultural competencies of Elon employees related to the API and MENA community, require supervisors to learn and understand how biases are present in the workplace and increase transparency when those events occur at Elon.
The task force began its work following a spike in the number of anti-Asian hate incidents across the United States during 2020 and early 2021. The group was tasked by President Book with seeking a better understanding of the experiences of the API population, with the scope of its focus expanding early in its work to include those Elon members who identify as MENA as well. The work included examining data about this population at Elon, researching API and MENA initiatives at peer and aspirant institutions, examining the reports of affinity groups that were previously studied and gathering new information about the experiences of API and MENA students, faculty staff and alumni.
Elon has a relatively small API community, with 4.1 percent of undergraduates, 2.3 percent of graduate students, 6.9 percent of faculty and less than 1 percent of staff identifying as Asian Pacific Islander. The university does not have any prior data on MENA representation, and the task force is recommending that the university collect more data in order to better serve the API and MENA community.
The task force examined the work of 18 peer and aspirant institutions that are engaged in meaningful and informative work around representation and inclusion related to the API and MENA and drew from that examination findings that the task force believes could serve as a blueprint for initiatives at Elon. Among the key observations were the value in not grouping first-generation Asians with second- and third-generation Asian Americans due to the inherent differences in the groups, the need to mobilize around the recruitment of Asian students and staff, the insights that an interactive demographic dashboard could provide and the use of dedicated spaces to for API and MENA students, faculty and staff to gather.
To better understand the lived experiences of API and MENA members of the Elon University community, the task force conducted a survey of more than 100 students, faculty, staff and alumni as well as seven focus group sessions. The focus group sessions explored the overall experience of participants, how they perceived the multicultural climate on campus, their recommendations for improving campus culture, their perceived differences between domestic and international students and any harassment or discrimination they experienced at Elon.
“Generating qualitative insights from our Asian Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern Northern African community is a powerful method for understanding members’ lived experiences,” said Randy Williams, vice president and associate provost for inclusive excellence. “The task force has given us this robust gift of research. I look forward to the campus partners using this information to enhance this valued community’s experience.”
The task force’s report includes a detailed overview of what they heard from these members of the university community, with the discussions lifting up areas of satisfaction with their experiences at Elon but also a wide range of areas where improvements can be made to provide a richer and more inclusive experience for API and MENA students, faculty, staff and alumni.
The wealth of information gathered by looking both externally and internally was the foundation for a detailed list of recommendations for the university to undertake in both the short term and the long term. Going forward, Catherine Chiang and Yuko Miyamoto have agreed to co-chair the implementation team, which begins its work this fall.
Joining Ajjan and Xu on the task force were:
- Amy Allocco, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
- Caroline Blanchard ’17, Former Senior Coordinator of Alumni Engagement
- George Dou, Assistant Director, Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education
- Nicole Filippo ’04 G’18, Former Communications Manager, Love School of Business
- Raj Ghoshal, Associate Professor of Sociology
- Kiah Glenn, Former Assistant Director, Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education
- Wen Guo, Former Assistant Professor of Art Administration
- Melody Harter, Program Assistant, Center for Leadership
- Xuan Huynh ’24, Undergraduate Student, Finance
- Trung Huynh-Duc, Director of Catholic Life
- Aishwarya Jayashankar ’22, Undergraduate Student, Finance & Business Analytics
- Yuko Miyamoto, Associate Professor of Biology
- Glenn Scott, Associate Professor of Journalism
- Barjinder Singh, Associate Professor of Management
- Jonathan Su, Assistant Professor of Engineering
- Pamela Winfield, Professor of Religious Studies