University receives $625K grant for DEI

The University of Richmond (UR) in Virginia recently received a 625K grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to “study barriers to student inclusivity.”

The grant is an Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) 6-year program meant to discover barriers to belonging, test different ways to intervene with said barriers, and promote inclusivity by giving staff resources, according to the UR Newsroom announcement. 

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IE3 aims “to create a learning community of college and university faculty, staff, students, and administrators who are engaged in the continuing process of increasing their institution’s capacity for inclusion and will commit to learning through reflection, sharing what is being learned, listening to feedback, and supporting other members of the community,” according to its website. 

Colleges throughout the U.S are pushing for diversity, equity, and inclusion on their campuses, as Campus Reform has reported. 

UR, for example, is just one of 104 colleges and universities receiving funding for the IE3 program, according to HHMI. 

In 2021, HHMI claimed to commit 2 billion dollars to increase racial, ethnic and gender diversity in science. HHMI plans to do this by “placing equity at the center of policies and practices in research, classroom, and administrative settings.” 

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Dr. Angie Hilliker, an associate professor of Biology at UR, will head the project with 10 other faculty members. 

IE3 is fully funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), which is funded by nonprofit, individual, and governmental sources. 

Campus Reform reached out to Dr. Angie Hilliker and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for comment and the article will be updated accordingly.