Each year, Michigan State University recognizes individuals, teams and units for the notable way they have aided in furthering diversity, equity and inclusion in teaching, research, programming, service, community outreach and organizational change. The 2023-24 Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards Ceremony will be held Feb. 9, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.
Individual, Team and Unit Award
The Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award recognizes efforts made toward forwarding diversity, equity and inclusion in thematic categories, including excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion; advancing knowledge and scholarly engagement; fostering engagement, collaboration(s) and partnership(s); advocating justice and equity; promoting learning and educating for inclusivity; and creating transformative organizational change.
Kristen Cetin
College of Engineering
Kristen Cetin is an associate professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is the founding associate chair for Faculty and Academic Staff Development. In addition, Cetin acts as director of the MSU Industrial Assessment Center, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. She also participates in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers as a leadership team member.
Throughout her career, Cetin has made diversity, equity and inclusion-focused efforts in every area. Her research focuses on improving the performance and energy efficiency of buildings, particularly in diverse, rural and underserved areas, to address energy equity challenges. The findings within her research have aided in bridging existing gaps and making advancements within her teaching and mentoring. As a mother of three, Cetin strongly believes in the importance of serving as a faculty role model and does this by demonstrating to the women she advises and mentors that they can have successful careers in STEM fields. Within her teaching, she makes many efforts to bring women and underrepresented students into the conversation to reinforce the importance of diversity in a professional setting. Outside of her academic duties, Cetin supports the broader community through K-12 STEM activities in rural and underserved communities. She has also developed and brought civil engineering-focused STEM activities to early childhood centers and the local community.
Kent Key
College of Human Medicine
Kent Key is an assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine’s C.S. Mott Department of Public Health. He works as a health disparities researcher, using community-engaged approaches to create community-driven solutions that advance health equity. Within his work, Key focuses on DEI, specifically the social determinants of health and their impact on mental health youth development. He addresses health disparities and gaps in research, which has aided in eradicating systemic inequities.
Additionally, Key serves as executive deputy director of the Community Based Organization Partners, or CBOP, an umbrella organization comprised of community and faith-based organizations. Key is also the founder of the Community Ethics Review Board, which is a component of CBOP. In 2020, he authored a resolution declaring racism as a public health crisis and led initiatives locally, regionally and nationally. Before his academic career, Key worked in the nonprofit sector on local and national levels. His passion for this work continues today, as he remains the executive director and founder of the Community Engagement Studio of Flint and serves as commissioner and chair of the Genesee County DEI Commission. Key works toward building a future of growth in the public health world by focusing on training youth and embedding DEI principles into key course curricula. This led him to create the Flint Public Health Youth Academy, where he provides opportunities to explore careers in public health, medicine and research through various community events and activities that reduce disparities and increase the representation of professionals of color.
Kathryn Westby
College of Natural Science
Kathryn Westby is a fourth-year doctoral student in the College of Natural Science’s Program in Mathematics Education. Throughout her educational endeavors, Westby has strived for inclusive excellence. She pushes the boundaries of education to see the potential and capability of disabled students and teachers who are often set apart and not offered the opportunity to use mathematics to its fullest potential. Westby works passionately to advance radical inclusive excellence in education by supporting all students across all disciplines.
In her education, research and teaching, Westby continually advocates for disabled students and teachers. Within the last two years, Westby led the design, implementation and research of a weekly professional development workshop and introductory course that presented the concepts of models of disability and helped to foster a diverse community.
Know Your Rights Day
College of Law
Know Your Rights Day at Cass Tech High School in Detroit started in 2016 and was inspired by protests over the police killing of Michael Brown, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement and the requests of teachers at Cass Tech High School. The program was designed to teach young, predominantly Black and Hispanic students in Detroit about their constitutional rights and how to survive potentially dangerous situations with the police. The workshops are powerful and insightful, but they are not just a lesson in law and safety. The event opens the door for reflective discussions about an ongoing national problem and provides a safe space to share systemic experiences of bias and trauma while encouraging young people to join in the national conversation of what to do about it.
The workshops and sessions are taught by MSU law students. The “Know Your Rights Day 2023” leadership team consisted of Professor Nancy Costello, director of the First Amendment Law Clinic; and Joshua Cambri and Valerie Uduji, third-year students in the College of Law and alums of the First Amendment Law Clinic. MSU Law alums Megan Shaya and Maya Pascal organized the event in 2022 and 2021. MSU Law alum Gabrielle Boyer Ragland organized the event in 2016. Professor Catherine Grosso provided guidance on criminal law to help create the workshops.
Alliance for African Partnership
International Studies and Programs
The Alliance for African Partnership, or AAP, was founded by MSU in 2016. Members of the AAP are committed to equitable partnerships that transform lives and address global challenges. Building on MSU’s engagement in Africa and the work of the African Studies Center, or ASC, the AAP strives for accountability, equity, inclusivity, sustainability and transparency through its evolving engagement models. The AAP takes a cooperative approach by creating networks and partnerships revolving around agri-food systems, water, energy, the environment, culture, youth empowerment, education, and health and nutrition. The work of the AAP is focused on three pillars: 1) building bridges across sectors, disciplines and continents; 2) transforming institutions to better engage in equitable and sustainable partnerships; and 3) transforming lives through engaged research and scholarship that address shared challenges.
In collaboration with MSU’s Education Abroad, ASC and the Global Youth Advancement Network, the AAP funded the Collaborative Online International Learning Faculty Fellows Program-Africa initiative. This program is an online platform that focuses on fostering intercultural teaching and learning experiences within universities across the world to make global learning accessible, to strengthen ties between faculty and to support and advance the internationalization plan of partnering universities. In addition, the AAP has launched and supported various research programs designed to promote the success of underrepresented faculty and students, cultivate, and support multidirectional and transregional partnerships, contribute to thought leadership and dialogue, and further global education.
Residence Education and Housing Services
Student Life and Engagement
Residence Education and Housing Services, or REHS, a department in the Division of Student Life and Engagement, focuses on various areas impacting students’ living experiences on campus. REHS provides many services, including residence education, housing assignments, housing operations, conference services, facilities and maintenance. Throughout their work, REHS aspires to be an anti-racist and anti-oppressive department by setting educational goals, responding to student concerns and proactively engaging in individual and collective self-work.
In the spring of 2022, REHS started its Racial Equity Impact Analysis Team to critically evaluate policy and practice from an anti-racist lens to create change at the structural level. The team has evaluated key administrative processes and updated the housing contract, assignments policy and student conduct process. In response to student requests to transparently track progress, REHS created a DEI Dashboard, which is used as a tool for accountability and allows students to see progress made from their concerns. Since the fall of 2019, REHS has offered a dialogue series as the standard pedagogical approach for expanding DEI capacity across all staff levels. Most recently, REHS, in partnership with The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center and student organizations transcend and TransAction, sought to improve the system to secure safe and consistent housing for transgender and nonbinary students. After building the Gender-Inclusive Housing program, the team found that it was not fully meeting the needs of students, leading to the launch of the Transgender Residential Experience, which will include a full-time student coordinator position in fall 2024.