The Office for Equity, Belonging, and Culture
The Office for Equity, Belonging, and Culture spearheads the development of a visionary approach and strategic objectives to propel anti-racism initiatives and foster an inclusive, compassionate work and educational environment where everyone experiences respect, engagement, support, and recognition. Under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor, Equity, Belonging, and Culture, the office collaborates closely with the Students, Staff, Faculty, University Leadership, and Board of Governors to instigate cultural and organizational transformations aimed at fostering a climate conducive to equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, and belonging.
This office assumes responsibility for guiding institution-wide endeavors that challenge conventional higher education practices, processes, and cultural paradigms, while advocating for profound and sustained organizational evolution. By engaging in partnerships with affiliated entities, we endeavor to create and implement collective initiatives and activities that bolster and advocate for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB), thus ensuring that the mission of Antioch University remains at the forefront and is magnified through our endeavors.
Stephanie Helms Pickett, EdD
Vice Chancellor, Equity, Belonging and Culture
Stephanie Helms Pickett (she/her) joined Antioch University in January 2024 as the inaugural Head of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. She reports directly to the Chancellor and serves on the Chancellor’s Cabinet. Stephanie has extensive experience in higher education administration, working at private, public, single-sex, predominantly White, and historically Black institutions of higher education, in residence life, commuter life, multicultural affairs, orientation, leadership, international student affairs, disability services, and academic support services. She’s served as the Associate Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Strategic Practice at North Carolina State University and as the Director of Assessment and Professional Development, as well as the Director of the Women’s Center at Duke University. Dr. Helms Pickett is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership and Higher Education Policy in the College of Education at NC State University and an Adjunct Professor in the Duke University Divinity School. Her research interests are in the areas of higher education policy, women’s engagement, cultural competency, faith, and leadership. She is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and uses it in her practice to assist others in developing an intercultural mindset. She presently serves as a member of the BRIDGES Advisory Board, a leadership program advancing women in higher education.
Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio & Television Broadcasting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and a Master’s and Doctorate degree in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University.
EVENTS
Join Antioch University as we come together for a powerful series of events in January and February 2025, centered around racial healing, social justice, and collective reflection. Sponsored by the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center and the Office for Equity, Belonging, and Culture, these events provide opportunities for learning, conversation, and actionable steps toward a more just and inclusive society.
Antioch University, Speak Your Truth!
As members of the Antioch community, we recognize that our personal reasons for choosing Antioch might be closely aligned with our politics and our activism. Please join Antioch’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center (TRHT) as we celebrate your truth-telling narratives.
Tell us how you are currently living your personal truths during this time in history. Describe the truths that currently govern your life. Consider those truths you feel most essential to your identity, growth, and future; your culture, beliefs, your familial and professional communities, etc. Feel free to consider and/or answer any of the following prompts:
- How are you currently living your truth(s) with intentionality?
- How is your truthful living positively impacting your life? The lives of those around you?
- How does Antioch currently support you living truthfully? And/or how can Antioch do a better job supporting your efforts to live your truth?
- What inspiration can you offer others about the power/value in living your truths out loud?
How to Submit:
- Option 1 (features your image):
- Use your smartphone to record a PORTRAIT (selfie-style) 1-minute video of yourself Speaking Your Truth!
- Option 2 (features your voice):
- Use your smartphone and record a 1-minute voice note Speaking Your Truth
- Option 3 (features your words and/or art):
- In 500 words or less, submit a written or visual narrative Speaking Your Truth (poetry and prose preferred
Once the truths are submitted, the TRHT Advisory Committee will group them by themes and share them with the Antioch University community.
Final Deadline for Submissions: January 15, 2025
National Day of Racial Healing
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
To commemorate the National Day of Racial Healing, there will be three opportunities throughout the day to reflect on racial healing, share experiences, and envision pathways forward:
12pm – 2pm ET / 9am – 11am PT [REGISTER HERE]
4pm – 6pm ET / 1pm – 3pm PT [REGISTER HERE]
7pm – 9pm ET / 4pm – 6pm PT [REGISTER HERE]
Sponsored by the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center (TRHT)
One Book, One Antioch: A Conversation with Janet Dewart Bell
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
7 – 8 PM ET / 4 – 5 PM PT
Join Janet Dewart Bell, PhD, Antioch University Board of Governors member and two-time alum of Antioch University (Columbia ’74, GSLC ’10), for an engaging discussion on her impactful book, Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. This event is part of the One Book, One Antioch initiative, encouraging community-wide reading and reflection.
Learn about accessing the book.
Sponsored by the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center (TRHT)
Racial Equity Summit
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
2 PM – 3:30 PM ET / 11 AM – 12:30 PM PT
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| Yolanda Avent, PhD, CEO of Avent Consulting |
This summit will launch Antioch University’s six-part racial equity training program in partnership with Avent Consulting. Antioch leadership will offer opening remarks as we collectively embark on this important journey toward equity and systemic change. Further details and monthly session dates (February to June) will be shared soon.
(Please note: This event is for faculty, staff, and administrators only)
To Read and to Watch
Inclusion & Diversity Statement of Commitment
In radical recognition of our mission and purpose, we pledge to actively engage in ongoing development as a wholly inclusive community. To this end, we will consistently, deliberately, and systematically strive to be appropriately responsive to the myriad dimensions of human diversity, such that none are marginalized and all experience justice and empowerment. Moving beyond tolerance toward inclusion and the celebration of our differences, we will courageously embrace any resulting challenges as they arise, recognizing that the responsibility for this rests with each and every member of the community. We assert that we will move expeditiously toward our goals through an ongoing commitment to courageous self‐examination and respectful and honest interactions, which will lead us to the creation of formal and informal structures, policies, programs, and services that will give life to these ideals on our campuses and as we touch the world around us.
(Created by the University-wide Diversity Statement Task Force, approved 2012)
Land Acknowledgement
Antioch University acknowledges the traditional owners of the country throughout North America and their continuing connection to land, culture, and community and recognizes those territories that are unceded.
Religious and Cultural Holidays
When scheduling exams, deadlines, events, or activities, please refer to the calendar provided for observation of religious and cultural holidays.
- Some religious communities limit or avoid their use of technology during holy days, which also include the Sabbath (celebrated by Jews from Friday night through Saturday night). Such technology includes but is not limited to the use of virtual learning platforms.
- Bahá’í, Judaic and Islamic observances begin at sundown and end at sundown on the dates listed.
- “Kosher restrictions apply” refers to the dietary restrictions of Jewish Law that include avoidance of pork, shellfish and mixing dairy with meat.
- “Halal restrictions apply” refers to the dietary restrictions of Islamic Law. These include pork and alcohol.
- Although the dates listed are based on the Gregorian calendar, many cultures and religions are lunar or solar-based.
- Not all holy days in every religious and spiritual tradition are included in this calendar and there may be some variances to dates due to regional differences.
Calendar overlays may be used as a guide for instructors and event planners to indicate which days are important religious holidays that might entail restrictions. Google has several overlays for regional and global religious holidays that you can add by going to Settings > Add calendar > Browse calendars of interest in your Google calendar.
Please check the Interfaith Calendar for additional holidays.
EBC Efforts@Antioch
Antioch University engaged Rankin Climate to conduct a climate study centered around a university-wide survey.
Climate studies measure an institution’s real and perceived environment—how people interact personally, academically, and professionally—and gauge its strengths and weaknesses around equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
The Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF), established by Antioch University Chancellor William Groves in July 2020, was convened in response to national movements focused on systemic racism and white supremacy in the United States and beyond and to expand on Antioch’s firmly established mission of social justice in a way that intentionally reinforces the university as an anti-racist academic institution. We actively work with the ARTF to strengthen our campus and foster development in our university and the communities in which we are a part.
Antioch University is proud to be selected by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) to host a higher education Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center. We are so pleased to be engaged in this important work in collaboration with our colleagues at Otterbein University, one of the first TRHT Campuses in the nation.
The Council for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI), a grassroots graduate student/alumni-led and run cooperative organization, has recently asked Antioch University to take additional steps to become a more anti-racist institution. CEDI’s mission is to drive anti-racist action and propel systemic change across the University in order to advance Antioch’s commitment to racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. CEDI members recently joined Antioch’s monthly Messy Conversations to discuss their experiences at Antioch and to introduce a petition, which includes a set of formal recommendations for the University’s consideration.
Messy Conversations provide a Collaborative Environment for Growth. At our best, the persons who make up Antioch University form a vibrant community of learners who believe in the importance of conversations that are “messy” because they are complex, challenging, intricate, layered. Everyone has a seat at the table here; any voice committed to collaborative learning and growth will be heard.