Student Excellence Programs (SEPs), overseen by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, foster an inclusive academic environment for prospective and current students. SEPs focus on recruiting and retaining underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds. Through SEPs, underrepresented students are provided with information about financial aid, scholarships and fellowships, careers, and other success strategies. SEPs aim to bridge the gap between international and domestic students and inform underrepresented students about resources to help them succeed and excel at Auburn University. SEPs include Tiger Retreat, War Eagle Scholars Day, Academic Excellence 3.0 Ceremony, and Diversity Student Ambassadors.

The Office of Inclusion and Diversity is paramount to building unity, equity, and inclusion at Auburn University. The office recognizes the benefits of creating a welcoming space for education, as this increases student well-being and success. Auburn University’s Strategic Diversity Plan states that the institution will “establish diversity as a core value at Auburn University.” Core goals include the inclusion of underrepresented groups into the university’s faculty, staff, and student body, and fostering a sense of place and belonging. The Office of Inclusion and Diversity also supports efforts that enhance external support for various scholarships and programs. The office is now formalizing annual reports detailing transparency and accountability towards Auburn’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals.

The Presidential Task Force for Opportunity and Equality (PTFOE) is a representative team that aims to implement equitable and inclusive policies on campus. The subcommittees of the PTFOE include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Education, undergraduate Student Recruitment and Retention, Faculty Recruitment and Retention, and Staff Recruitment and Retention. Auburn University Employment Services joined the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium in order to increase diversity of faculty, staff, and administrators in academia. PTFOE also increased use of inclusive language throughout university websites and applications for new staff positions.

Health disparities are systematic group differences in health indicators or health outcomes that are the result of past or present social injustice. The mission of the Health Equity Research Lab is to conduct cutting edge health disparities research and provide related training opportunities for students and scholars. The lab examines mechanisms for socioeconomic and racial disparities in health and health behaviors across the life span and to make clear how these mechanisms—and the overall magnitude of inequalities—are shifting in contemporary societies. The Health Equity Research Lab is housed in the College of Human Sciences.

Dr. Hannah Baggett is an Associate Professor in the College of Education with specialization in educational research and teaching for social justice. Dr. Baggett’s work focuses on research about preservice and practicing teachers’ orientations to justice and equity and a statewide analysis of school discipline policy and practice in Alabama. Her recent book, The Grammar of School Discipline: Removal, Resistance, and Reform in Alabama Schools, coauthored with Dr. Carey Andrzejewski, describes how school discipline policies and practices damage relationships with and trajectories of Black youth and how practitioners might make efforts towards repair. Dr. Baggett’s scholarship also reports on outreach work engaging alternative school students in youth research to facilitate a sense of community belonging and empowerment.

College of Liberal Arts’ Dr. Rebecca Retzlaff studies urban planning history and law to better understand the systemic inequality prevalent in cities in the United States. Her article, “Connecting Public School Segregation with Urban Renewal and Interstate Highway Planning: The Case of Birmingham, Alabama,” analyzes the connection between public school segregation, Urban Renewal, and interstate highway construction in Birmingham, Alabama. The article argues that interstate highways and Urban Renewal were used to preserve segregation. Dr. Retzlaff’s research demonstrates how policies from decades ago can still perpetuate inequalities even today.