Like many American colleges and universities, Augustana College is changing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), while expanding on its long-held mission to improve campus diversity.
In response to the federal government’s anti-DEI policies and orders, more than 400 colleges and universities have eliminated or rebranded programs and centers that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, including at the Rock Island private liberal-arts school.
After 10 years of growth in strengthening campus connection and building students’ intercultural skills, Augustana will evolve its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion into the Office of the Vice President for Culture and Connection beginning this year.
“What makes Augustana College remarkable is our commitment to connection and to the many cultures, identities and lived experiences that shape our campus and the broader Quad-Cities community,” said Gauri A. Pitale, vice president for culture and connection, who joined the college in early 2024 as new VP for DEI. “We build bridges and foster meaningful relationships, because at its core this is about human connection.”
Federal efforts to dismantle DEI programs across society have affected Augustana.
“Certainly, the national conversation is relevant to this. I mean, there's no question that that pushed us to think about what we were doing and to really look carefully at the programs we had,” college president Andrea Talentino said Wednesday. “The other piece that was really essential to it is that we did start our diversity/equity programs 10 years ago. And we really try, like a good institution, to make sure that we review things kind of on a standard basis.
“So 10 years is generally kind of a standard review. So between those two things, we started really looking at where we were and said, you know what? There are things we can do better, and there are ways that we need to change, to really live out that sort of fulfill that mission statement, that we're preparing students for that life of service and leadership,” she said. “My colleagues just became very creative at thinking how to really build and change programs in ways that would be most meaningful for student success.”
The launch is part of Augustana’s “Ten Years of Becoming” – a reflection on the growth and change since the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was created in 2016. Across conversations with students, faculty and staff, two themes surfaced again and again: students thrive when they feel connected, and when they gain the cultural understanding that prepares them for the world today.
“Over the past 10 years, what the office achieved naturally expanded in reach and depth,” Pitale said. “While we have strengthened recruitment and support for international students, U.S. students of color and first gen students, our focus has always been on serving the evolving needs of all students. As those needs have shifted, we have responded by expanding our services to ensure every student can thrive.
“This work remains grounded in Augustana College’s broader mission to prepare students for leadership and service in a diverse and changing world.”
“We're really thinking about how we make education that's meaningful to students lives and allows them to fulfill our mission,” Talentino said. “Part of our mission statement is that we're preparing our students to live lives of service and leadership in a diverse and changing world. And so we're conscious all the time about what we need to do to prepare them to do that. And this is a really important part of that.”
Of Augie’s total 2,570 students, about 26% are students of color and 20% international students (representing 61 countries).
“Obviously there's some crossover between those two groups. And those numbers have certainly grown over the last five to six years, which we're really proud of,” Talentino said. “There's a whole variety of programs that we have at Augustana. Some are co-curricular, some are economic, some are residential based that are all about making sure that we're serving all students well and that we're also making sure that all students know how to work in really positive ways with others, whether they come from their background or not.”
Another trend Augie has seen is that fewer students come to school with solid social capacity and social/emotional confidence, as well as less connection.
“Part of what this also is, is really thinking carefully about how we help students from all backgrounds with kind of all different experiences learn, learn to connect with and appreciate those around them and their peers and those they need to work with,” Talentino said. “It’s really also part of this larger concept of as students change, we have to change to help them. You know, some of the things that you take for granted when I went to college, it's a lot harder now. And so we just have to give them different tools and different supports to help them succeed.”
“Their connections, their feeling of their identities and their beliefs, their cultures being reflected in the campus culture and their ability to mold the campus culture is primarily key for their sense of belonging,” Pitale said. “It also allows for our alums to then come back and tell our incoming and new and current students just precisely why Augustana is such a great place.”
Need to keep evolving
“One of the key things that we've done is that we've meaningfully evolved so that we can keep up and ensure that the work that's coming out of this office is addressing the needs of our changing student body,” Pitale (who is from India) said.
“So we understand the key thing is students thrive when they have connection, when they feel a sense of belonging, and when they feel that supports are woven throughout campus life,” she said. “The office of the Vice President for Culture and Connection has meaningfully continued to evolve the work in such a way so that each student understands that their success, them thriving on this campus is really key and important.”
Her office (which has seven employees) will drive campus efforts to foster meaningful connection, strengthen the skills that build cultural understanding and ensure every student is equipped for a life of purpose in an interconnected world. The mission remains steeped in Augustana’s Lutheran commitments, which guide the community to dignity, justice and love of neighbor.
“Our focus is on helping every student flourish, at Augustana and after,” said Talentino. “The Office of the Vice President for Culture and Connection strengthens that promise, ensuring our practices reflect both our college’s values and the world that awaits our students.”
The office of culture and connection (in the Bahls Campus Leadership Center) will guide three strategic areas of work across campus:
- Cross-Cultural Competence – Build campuswide capacity to engage difference through shared dialogue, intercultural learning and community-building.
- Global Intercultural Experiences – Expand interconnection with a growing international student body and an increase in global learning opportunities for all students.
- Culture and Identity Building – Strengthen a campus culture grounded in identity awareness, inclusive norms and community accountability and in promotion of the college’s policies prohibiting discrimination.
“These priorities reflect evolution throughout a decade of progress,” Pitale said. “They respond to the needs of today’s students, and they honor our mission as a college grounded in the liberal arts and an inclusive expression of our foundational Lutheran principles.”
New programming through the office will include Cultures in Motion, to celebrate and affirm diverse identities and creative traditions represented on campus. The initiatives will feature exhibitions, performances, workshops and collaborative projects designed to spark dialogue and strengthen community.
Ashley Allen, executive director for intercultural experiences, noted these programs will give students new ways to express themselves and connect across cultural differences.
“We have grown to serve a student body that is now more than 20% international, and is drawn from more regions and backgrounds than ever before,” Allen said. “Students want ways to share who they are, and to learn from one another. The new programs will create opportunities for learning and connection across campus.”
“I think this is a great opportunity for our students,” she said. “We have a very diverse student population that brings a lot of culture to this campus. And this just creates a greater opportunity for them to strengthen the relationships with other peers, with faculty members, members, our staff as well. And it's a way for them to share who they are, but then allow other people to really embrace that and learn. So I think this is a great opportunity for deeper learning and deeper community.”
Allen is most excited about a new program, Cultures in Motion, starting later this year, to build on existing inter-cultural programming.
“When you think about culture, it's really your lived experiences. It's something that's not stagnant,” she said. “It's a way to express who you are, but invite other students to be a part of. And it's going to look a lot different. It's not going to all look the same.
“So that could be interactive conversations or workshops. I know for the offices that I oversee, food is a big part of culture in our office. So it's really just being able to this is a food or a dish that I'm bringing from home that I want to have a meal with you,” Allen said. “It may look like dance art. So I think this is a great opportunity to look at it in a different perspective and go beyond just having just one form or conversation, but it's going to look different and really invite others to bring who they are to the conversation.”
That will build on the foundation of three long-running culture houses on campus, which are not residential, but comfortable student spaces for programming, meals, and meetings. They are: Asian Pacific Islander Desi American House (started in 1997), Casa Latina (1994), and Black Culture House (1970).
The Office of the Vice President for Culture and Connection will roll out new programming in the months ahead.
Helping students graduate, get jobs
Making deeper connections with more students also will help Augie retain students, ensure they graduate and help them get a good job.
“Our local employers tell us that some of the skills they want to see in new hires are ability to work collaboratively, ability to think across lots of different kind of disciplines and areas, and ability to understand and appreciate other points of view and perspectives,” Talentino said. “All those things are also really essential to this because we really try to listen to employers as we think about preparing our students. And so this new programming and these initiatives are really designed to make sure those are the skills students come out with so they're in a good position to get a good job.”
“This broadens the scope of the office in such a way as to ensure that all of our students gain these skills,” Pitale said. “Usually what has been the case is that we have, at the inception of the office, looked at helping specific students so that they feel supported and they feel successful. And what that does is that students may have a multitude of identities and they may still need support.
“So making that assumption that certain students specifically need that support, instead of shifting and completely changing the lens to saying, everybody needs support and everybody in their own way, has their own cultures, their needs,” she added. “That allows us to expand the lens in such a way that the work is more connected across campus and more strategic to allow our students to thrive.”
The evolution stays true to Augie’s founding in 1860 under the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, noting the importance of awareness and welcoming of people’s differences, Talentino said.
“When they go to their places of work, they know how to work with different perspectives, to be able to honor and appreciate different perspectives and experiences,” she said. “So all those things remain essential to us. We also want to make sure we're evolving as we go so that we're serving our students well and also really thinking about as programs change and needs change, how are we making those programs more effective for student success? But that's really what we're always thinking about.”
“One of the key things is that we do live in a highly global and interconnected world, it is important for us to make good on our mission promise to graduate students who have those intercultural skills when they go into the workplace, they are able to showcase those skills,” Pitale said. “So we know that through their education, we provide them a lot of technical skills.
“But the soft skills, those qualities that employers are looking for, where people are able to collaborate across differences, are able to enrich teams in such a way so that you really push past just being able to achieve the minimum to being a dynamic team,” she said.
The evolution of the office and its work honors a decade of foundational leadership. President Emeritus Steve Bahls, who saw the launch of the DEI office in 2016, also reflected on the significance of this moment.
“Throughout the past decade, Augustana has steadily strengthened its commitment to facilitating the success of all students,” he said. “It is gratifying to see this next chapter taking shape with clarity and purpose.”
A new book titled “Called to Reckon,” forthcoming from Southern Illinois University Press, reflects on how Augustana has changed over time and how the college continues to live out its mission. Edited by Augustana Professor of History Dr. Jane Simonsen and featuring essays by Augustana faculty, alumni and college leaders, the collection includes a preface by President Emeritus Steve Bahls and an epilogue by President Andrea Talentino.
“Called to Reckon” presents a close look at a century of change at Augustana, providing deeper context for cultural changes in the past 10 years.
From Nepal to the QC
Diya Adhikari, an Augie senior from Nepal, is excited about the campus growth.
“When I first came here, I was really not sure what to expect. A lot of classes, a lot of new things around me,” she said, noting she’s felt very supported by students and staff.
Diya loves being part of the annual Shades of Beauty summit, aimed at showcasing women of color. “It really makes me feel like I belong here. Makes me feel very empowered. And I love feeling, like a sense of I know what I'm doing, I know I belong here. And I have so many amazing people supporting me.”
Being a small, diverse school has really helped her.
“I know all my classmates, my professors know me. So everybody takes me in an individual level. And I feel really valued and really heard in that sense,” Diya said. “So that was the thing that really pulls me towards Augie. The smaller campus size, the smaller community that cares about you.”
Diya hopes the new office will strengthen connections among varied parts of the campus community.
“Just like embracing my culture with people who are from different identities. Like, everybody has a different culture, different identity,” she said. “That’s what I feel like Augie has really prepared me for. Like, really being able to communicate with people more effectively, to be able to talk to my peers about anything, even though we are from a whole different part of the world or whole different culture. So really supporting students, helping them get to know each other, and just having all these amazing programming in the future too, that will help bring those students together.”
“When I came here, I was a very quiet person because I didn't really know how to talk with people besides my same cultural identity. So, like my first semester, I struggled a lot because I would only be in a group of students who share the same interest or who spoke the same language as me,” she said. “Going to different events really showed me the world beyond my specific group. So going to those events really helped me talk to different people from different cultures, different countries, people from the U.S., so it really helped me connect to everyone.
“And you don't need to be from the same place to be friends or be peers or be colleagues. There will be opportunities for you to talk and come to the same ground. So all those events or programming that happens on campus really helps you. You mesh along well with people from different identities and cultures.”
“I feel like a diverse community has helped me become more confident in my voice because it just really shows me that I matter too,” Diya said. “Especially being a woman of color, it has been a really important part because it just shows me how my peers take me, how my professors take me, how they are really excited to hear my views or my point of the world.”
“I have found my community here. So, being in a diverse space just makes me feel more confident in myself. It makes me feel like yes, I can succeed too.”
She hopes expanding cultural diversity will help all students grow, and prevent prejudice and discrimination.
“Having a lot of opportunities for students, different students from different backgrounds to mesh together -- I feel like Augie already does a great job at it, but just having more programming for students to be more involved,” she said. “Having a lot of those signature events, making sure all students from all different groups come together, I feel like that would be amazing.”
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