Student Health, Diversity & Equity, Free Speech: A Dizzying Year in Search of Core Values
When calendars flipped from 2022 to 2023 last year, as COVID-19 finally waned and higher education professionals raced to remove the word “pivot” from their vocabularies, what lay in wait on the horizon could not have been imagined.
After gaining steam over two years since George Floyd, nearly 50 anti-DEI laws were proposed in 23 states as 2023 got underway, and many more would follow. Then a tragic pre-Valentine’s Day shooting at Michigan State University would be the first of at least 13 shootings on college campuses during the year. And across the United States, record numbers of college students were reporting being mentally disengaged or severely stressed.
