Box.

Open-ended feedback from faculty regarding the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) curriculum self-reflection process, compiled from comments presented to the Curriculum Committee by concentration directors and notes from monthly committee meetings, Rutgers University, 2020.

Positive

• It was helpful to do the exercise in small groups.

• It was helpful to discuss the assessment with colleagues and learn from their ideas and experiences.

• Including a list of the dimensions, examples, and suggestions was helpful.

• It is hard work; some things made us uncomfortable. We need to embrace the growth that comes from discomfort.

Resistance

• Denying the applicability of DEI

– It is hard to incorporate DEI in a math-based course.

– [DEI] is not particularly relevant to statistical methods.

• Claiming that DEI reduces the quality of public health instruction

– For disciplines like [quantitative public health field], we need to be careful to not dumb down conceptual aspects on the course being taught.

– I’m afraid we are on the side of overkill and recognizing high quality and relevant research by majority race and ethnicity; don’t want to see quality go down.

– I caution that we are on a slippery slope with regard to academic freedom.