Georgia State is known as a university for everyone. Georgia State supports social change and supports various programs for those who are part of a specific gender, a different race or even your sexuality. For example, the Committee of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, or DEI, is Georgia State’s hub for all its programs and organizations that address these three fundamental values.
DEI’s website describes its purpose: “Georgia State seeks to become a national leader in all that it does, and leading as a model for inclusive excellence is a vital goal for the university part of our work toward creating fair and equitable environments for faculty, staff and students.”
Georgia State continues further efforts toward greater diversity by creating programs for minority groups, LGBTQ+ communities, women and more. The university regularly holds events to teach the Georgia State community about race, diversity, equity and inclusion, such as the American International Student Mixer. This event is for both the international students and the American students to get to know each other and build relationships that would create the Georgia State community.
In addition to events, there are multiple organizations within the DEI, including an African American Male Initiative (AAMI) with Panther PRIME. PRIME is an acronym that stands for Preparing Retaining and Investing in Males through Engagement. The organization helps AAMI commit to significantly increasing the graduation rate and the number of degrees granted to African American men at Georgia State.
PRIME’s primary purpose is to make sure members of the AAMI graduate, and it is a partnership between the multicultural center and the honors college. The safety net leverages both areas’ resources to provide African American men with identity development, cultural competency and experiential learning opportunities.
The Latinx Student Services and Outreach (LASSO)is a unit under student retention and undergraduate studies at Georgia State. LASSO’s primary function is to promote an inclusive community that enhances Latinx students’ success and provides services to aid in that success. LASSO includes student support services, mentoring programs, volunteer and outreach opportunities, and tries to collaborate with students’ social, academic, and personal lifestyles.
The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC)is an extension of the multicultural center, focusing on providing services, resources and intentional support for LGBTQ+ students. The GSRC offers the benefits of programming, workshops, organizational support and mentoring and supports LGBTQ+ students in a less tolerant community.
The Women Lead (WL) program provides students access to faculty, research community partners, leadership skills, networking and strategic career development. The program encourages women to strive for the top leadership positions across various sectors beginning their sophomore year.
WL engages women through learning in the classroom, developing mentoring relationships and organizing and leading campus programs.
These programs help various students every day by giving them opportunities they might not get to have by themselves. They both seek to recruit, retain, empower, graduate and advance the students in these programs.
