Inclusivity and equity are a mindset and a practice. When embraced, they will affect all aspects of the living-learning community at Jewell, and we are charting a course to do just that. Jewell is working to be a more welcoming, anti-racist campus and support equity and diversity of people, perspectives and values. We invite you to visit this page regularly to stay up to date as we develop plans of action to move the institution forward.
Vice President for Access and Engagement
At William Jewell College, we are intentional about the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We have committed ourselves to create an environment where all stakeholders feel included and experience a deep sense of belonging. We believe this can only be accomplished by upholding the belief that every person is of the utmost importance and deserves dignity and respect. We embrace these principles, not only, because they are the right thing to do, but we believe the world cannot succeed without them. We know intuitively, as well as empirically, that we are a much better society when we garner the perspectives of people who think, believe, look and live differently than we do. Diverse environments outperform homogenous ones! When we embrace this notion, we produce better outcomes—better communicators, better colleagues, better friends, and ultimately, better citizens.
In the end, we strive for both intellectual and cultural humility, which speaks to an openness to learn and reciprocate learning with our entire community. We invite you to join us as we build a Jewell community that fully reflects our vast country and ever-evolving world.
Jewell seeks to find a historical and moral truth about our racial history, from the slaveholding of the College’s founders to the College today. A report will be presented in the 2021-2022 academic year and will available to the public at the Black Archives of Mid-America Kansas City. Watch this video announcement, or read more below.
Jewell is committing real resources to empower change in a meaningful way, including new positions, scholarships and programs to serve the campus community.
In the past several years, Jewell has raised several million dollars to support and endow need-based scholarships. In 2019, the College created the Shape the Future Grant specifically for students of color and underserved students. This award is designed to promote equity, remove financial barriers and help Jewell graduate students who reflect the diversity in society. The grant can be combined with other scholarships and grants. The fall 2020 class has 32 Shape the Future grant recipients. They represent 12 states, and 84% of recipients are non-white. Apply or learn more at www.jewell.edu/shape-the-future.
In 2019, Jewell became the academic home for American Public Square. Through its programming, American Public Square at Jewell seeks to change the tone and quality of public discourse, offering a better understanding of divergent perspectives. The organization invites communities to have frank and open discussions on topical issues of national importance. These gatherings, which occur throughout the region and feature speakers of national and local acclaim, foster fact-based, civil discourse and are expressly nonpartisan. At least twice per year, American Public Square hosts nationally recognized politicians, speakers and public figures on our campus.
In 2018, the College introduced the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a tool that evaluates intercultural competence within individuals and organizations. All faculty and staff members completed the assessment and were invited to meet individually with Dr. Andrew Pratt, Special Counsel to the President for Diversity and Inclusion, to review their profile results and create a personalized development plan. Deploying the assessment again in 2020 will help us track our progress in achieving an adaptation mindset enabling deep cultural bridging across diverse communities.
We are committed to ensuring that all aspects of William Jewell College—systems, curriculum, faculty and staff—are anti-racist. We need your help. We invite you to work alongside us and hold us accountable for the changes we must make.
In April 2021, Jewell announced the establishment of a Racial Reconciliation Commission to find and express both a historical and moral truth about the racial history of the institution. The first report was released in January 2022.
> Racial Reconciliation Report 1848-1879
This research is not only regarded as pivotal to the Jewell community, but will provide insights into regional history, serving as a bridge to critical conversations around race.
Dr. Elizabeth MacLeod Walls, president, and Dr. Rodney Smith, vice president for access and engagement, have established a Racial Reconciliation Commission, with the aim of “guiding the communication of these findings to various audiences and to help shape Jewell’s next steps in an intentional way.”
The Commission includes broad representation across campus groups and organizations throughout Kansas City. These Commission is tasked with asking difficult questions and identifying broad communications opportunities for 1) sharing the research findings and 2) recommending actionable items for Jewell.
“William Jewell College has a deep passion for and commitment to the shared prosperity initiative throughout the Kansas City region, and our history is a critical piece of this conversation,” said Jewell President Dr. MacLeod Walls. “With the launch of purposeful, institution-wide inclusivity efforts more than two years ago,” she continued, “Jewell has made significant strides in welcoming diverse students and employees and in looking at all of our policies and practices—price and access in particular—through an equity lens. We are eager to build upon this momentum with the launching of the Commission.”
“The work of the Commission will explore Jewell’s racial history,” noted Dr. Rodney Smith. “The Commission will serve as the spear-heading body of this work, coming together to analyze the arc of time from William Jewell’s founding to today, and become the driving force in creating change for good. I’m encouraged by Jewell’s commitment to this research, and for asking critical questions and furthering conversations about race.”
Jewell’s research will be preserved and made available to the public at the Black Archives of Mid-America Kansas City, ensuring ongoing opportunities for public education and dialogue.
“We are pleased to support the efforts of William Jewell College and the Racial Reconciliation Commission,” said Dr. Carmaletta Williams, executive director of the Black Archives. “Their work is in alignment with the Archives’ mission to honor our community heritage and catalyze public awareness and will become an important part of our collection at the Archives.”
Commission Membership
Advisors to the Commission
Each department, as well as students, created a chart of work in 2019-2020 with measurable outcomes for addressing diversity and inclusion. In summer 2020, the Jewell community held its annual inclusivity workshop and will outline more goals and finalize a plan of action to be shared on this page.
Jewell is committed to creating a community that more accurately reflects the rich diversity in the world, including diversity of ideas, values and perspectives. We have significant work to do and are not letting up.
Beginning in the fall 2017 semester, all students take Identity & Society (CTI 150), a seven-week course within the Critical Thought and Inquiry core curriculum. Led by an interdisciplinary team of faculty, the course engages students in a seminar-style format to think about how they have formed their own identity, how they can connect to and understand people whose lived experiences are different from their own, and how to keep respectful dialogue going especially in tough subjects around diversity and justice. CTI 150 delves into racism and privilege, and includes units on gender and sexuality, immigration and/or socioeconomic class.
Students are required to take two more courses that can be in the core curriculum, their majors or electives. All the courses are certified by a faculty team, and many had extensive revisions. One course focuses on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. and another on diversity and inclusion globally. Some of the other courses that meet the graduation requirement include U.S. Pluralism, Intercultural Communication, World War Two, U.S.-Latinx Experience, Philosophy of Sex & Gender, Philosophy of Race, Social Psychology, Music in the Non-Western Traditions, Civil Rights & Liberties and Democracy American-Style.
Jewell committed in summer 2019 to eliminate standardized tests as an admission requirement for all students. This begins with the fall 2021 class. Since 2013, Jewell has offered a test-optional process; however, the level of burden for supporting materials became a barrier to students completing their application, especially among students of color. Completely eliminating test scores from our application process will help increase equity and eliminate a barrier that’s kept so many students from experiencing a transformational education. Beginning in July 2020, Jewell is eliminating the tuition deposit of $200, and the $100 housing security and damage deposit can be waived for any student who demonstrates high financial need. This change eliminates prioritizing enrollment and housing assignments for incoming students based on their ability to pay ahead.
