By Sophia Harris Editor-in-Chief Dylan Pichnarcik News Editor Framingham State University has been recognized with the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. The award was from the Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. Framingham State has won the award seven times, including the latest recognition. Insight Into Diversity magazine specifically highlighted six areas in which the University is performing exceptionally well, such as FSU’s focus on retention, persistence, and graduation rates for underrepresented students. This includes programs such as Gen-One Next Level and the University’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) model, which is an NSF-funded initiative to promote and advance BIPOC faculty who are early in their careers. It also highlighted Framingham State’s Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program coordinated through the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE), the University’s hiring process which requires applicants to include an equity and inclusion statement in their materials, and continued diversity training for students, faculty, and employees. Vice President of the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement Jeffery Coleman said every year, the organization sends out a “very extensive application” for institutions. He said DICE usually reaches out to divisions across campus to compile information about their specialties to submit to HEED. He said the magazine gets “a lot of traction” typically from people who are CDOs or diversity offices at universities all over the country. Coleman said people “open it up because they see these cutting-edge topics that everybody's talking about. “We look at it and kind of see what's going on nationally. What do we need to be aware of? How do we apply that to what's going on on our campus?” he asked. Coleman said the award serves as a benefit to the University because “it's something that we can use to attract people to come and work here from all over the country. We can use it to attract students to come here because they can see that they will be supported, affirmed, and welcomed regardless of who they are, and that we embrace all of their intersecting identities.” He said the organization was “ very complimentary of our abilities to continue doing work around DEI, particularly when nationally, there are a lot of attacks around this type of work.” President Nancy Niemi said it is wonderful for Framingham State to be acknowledged through the HEED award. She added the previous awards indicate that FSU has been consistent with its work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, she said, “While the award is nice, it's really the work that we're doing that makes the real difference.” Niemi highlighted some areas in which the University has improved or continues to improve over the years, including increasing the percentage of faculty who identify as BIPOC to just under 25%. This is due in part to the University’s AGEP alliance model, which promotes and advances BIPOC faculty, which HEED highlighted. “It really is our job across the University, not just in the DICE office, but all of us, to think about, ‘How are we intentionally building in regular opportunities for students, faculty, staff, cross sections of all of those, to think about how our racial, ethnic, gender, social class, diversity strengthens us? What do we still need to learn? What do we need to learn as a group? What things come up that we didn't even know about that we need to learn about? How do we talk? How do we talk about that?’” she asked. Junior Jose Resto said he is impressed by the HEED award. “I think it's great that FSU can have a lot of diversity amongst all the students that are enrolling here.” Junior Jerell Grooms said, “When I walk around campus, I feel welcomed. I feel comfortable, more so than if I went to a less diverse school.” Junior Abrianna Ouellette said when she heard about FSU winning the HEED award, she felt “proud to be a Ram.” Junior Zen Crosby said they “love it when our school does something cool,” but added more could be done to promote diversity events to the campus community.