by Quentin Brown
On Jan. 31, Northern Illinois University’s website boldly declared: “At NIU, we’re committed to confronting racism and all forms of discrimination.” The next day, Feb. 1, that language was gone — replaced with new, more measured wording: “At NIU, we are dedicated to fostering inclusive excellence.” Many Black students at NIU question what the shift means.
Cedric Tientcheu, a senior and student activist, says it’s concerning.
“First they change the words, then they water down the programs,” Tientcheu says. “That original statement about confronting racism meant something. ‘Inclusive excellence’ could mean anything.”
Yanni Brown, a senior studying political science, argues that while ambiguous terms like “inclusive excellence” dodge accountability, Black students continue to drive healing through community. “Language can be stripped, but they can’t take our joy, our solidarity, or our power to create spaces where we thrive,” Brown says.
A Swift Change
The change came 11 days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order geared toward stripping diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts from campuses nationwide.
Greg Elinson, an assistant professor in NIU’s College of Law, told NIU’s student newspaper, Northern Star, that DEI initiatives have deep roots in American policy, tracing back to President Truman’s military desegregation order and President Kennedy’s affirmative action policies. What’s different now is “how quickly universities are responding” to executive orders focused on ending DEI, Elinson said.
NIU’s website currently states that working toward inclusive excellence “drives us to create an environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel welcome, valued, respected and supported as they pursue knowledge and the transformative benefits of higher education.”
In a statement, NIU said the language modifications were made “as a result of the polarization around the term DEI” to ensure the university’s “belief in diversity is not misinterpreted.”
If We Can’t Say ‘Racism’
For Tientcheu, these changes represent more than semantics. “Racial healing requires calling things what they are,” he said. “If we can’t say ‘racism’ and ‘discrimination,’ how can we address them?”
The need for straight talk at NIU about anti-Black racism — as well as supportive efforts to help Black students heal — is certainly there. In 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Black students began vocally pointing out that NIU promotes its racial diversity to garner institutional prestige while failing to adequately support Black students’ lived experiences.
Then, in February 2023, faculty and Black student organizations submitted a petition to NIU President Lisa Freeman, which centered on three main areas that, if addressed, would help Black students thrive: A lack of diversity and representation in campus staff and administration,” “performative activism” and “lack of long-term community support.”
Efforts to garner support for the petition failed a month later, with student organizers saying NIU is a campus with plenty of feel-good language without engaging in transformative work.
However, not all Black students oppose the university’s pivot to “inclusive excellence.”
Ja’mari Easton, a junior from Illinois, says that: “If the programs are still there, why does the label matter? This might actually help more students feel included.”
The programs might not be there for long. Two campus organizations that promote racial healing for Black students, the Black Student Achievement Program and Black Male Initiative, were sued last November by a conservative group based in Rhode Island for allegedly violating the Constitution.
Source: Seattle Medium
