Teaching staff at Auburn University have been encouraged to use a rubric that prompts educators to develop not only diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ)–centered syllabi but also DEIJ-focused learning experiences throughout the university's online and hybrid courses.
The discovery of this follows earlier reporting by 1819 News. Sources provided screen captures from that online course that show, in addition to a textbook with questionable material, the syllabus for a "Crime and Justice in America" class included a "trigger warning and sensitive topics disclaimer," and a section asking students about their preferred names and pronouns.
In an article for the "International Journal of Designs for Learning" that reads more like a confession, Betsy Gilbertson, an instructional designer at Auburn University, Stephanie Shepherd, an associate professor in the College of Science and Mathematics and co-director of AUTeach at Auburn University, along with Jeffrey Fergus, who was the associate dean of Samuel Ginn Engineering at Auburn University described how, “The original DEIJ label, while accurately reflecting the purpose, was feared to incite backlash, particularly in a publicly funded land grant institution where the discourse around diversity and inclusivity is often fraught with political tension.”
“It was imperative to recognize the potential negative response to promoting and adopting the inclusive checklist and rubric. Consequently, the team decided to rebrand the tools under the title of ‘community and belonging," they added.
Speaking specifically to the state law, the Auburn staff stated, "In the spring of 2024, the state legislature passed a new law (S.B. 129, 2024) that makes it illegal to maintain DEI offices or programs, thus undermining initiatives across all levels of the institution."
While the tool itself and pages describing it were taken offline following inquiries from 1819 News, screenshots show what has been the basis of an unknown number of courses.
“Recently, the first full iteration of the revised Community and Belonging Tool was shared at a campus UDL workshop, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. We have begun to encourage its use across our university through small-group informational sessions on campus. We also feel confident about sharing the resources at regional and international conferences to offer the resources to other faculty and universities,” the authors wrote in their article.
The university did not respond to the request for comment.
The tools’ prompts guided staff through 12 questions focused on creating more "inclusive" classrooms.
The guidance provided to teaching staff encouraged them to provide “information on groups that specifically support Marginalized student populations (Black Student Body)."
These experiences include guidance not just for a “significant amount of representations” of various demographic categories, to include “gender, including non-binary and transgender” visuals, but also for “in-depth explanations of the importance of the diverse representation in the course.”
The website featuring the tool included a glossary of terms that included diversity, equity and inclusion.
The authors of the rubric wrote, "As our DEI office has been dissolved, we feel the tool will hold even more importance in the future to ensure inclusive learning environments exist for all students."
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