Equity Does Not Equal Belonging. Belonging is Someone in Your Corner.

Keynote: Terrell Strayhorn

For Terrell Strayhorn, a professor, author, and director of a research center on HBCUs, it is all about belonging. Strayhorn even runs The Belonging Lab, and as he sees it, belonging trumps equity every time.

“Belonging is an equity-minded framework,” Strayhorn told ACUI members in attendance at the 2025 Annual Conference in New York City. “Think about the difference between belonging and equality: Equality is about distributing things equally while belonging takes into account who the recipient is, who the student is, what one’s ability, or disability, is, and what they need to get to where they need to be.”

Belonging, through the lens of equity, is all about meeting unique needs. “From an equality lens, you can make the fallacious argument that you are giving every single student the same support, even though they may not need it,” he said. “Everyone does have needs, but the question is, ‘What kind of needs?’”

Following an assessment of a large campus welcome week, Strayhorn’s team found that while people were busy getting their faces painted and eating popcorn, students at the event actually felt alone. “You can be lonely in a crowd,” he noted. “Belonging is a feeling that members matter to one another and the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together. Students feel a sense of belonging when they know they have someone in their corner.”

There are classes and lectures, symposiums and presentations, but Strayhorn said students also need the most basic spaces for learning, like the front steps of the student union, the comfortable lounge area in the union foyer, or the outdoor pavilion where “there are important lessons being learned right in front of us.” 

Strayhorn’s upcoming book will be on “Workplace Belonging,” geared directly toward faculty and staff who often find themselves forced to have “uncomfortable seats or uncomfortable conversations,” as part of the process of instilling belonging. “Your belonging does matter,” he said. “It is where students pick up their sense of belonging; it translates to students. So don’t underestimate the power of micro actions and the support they can have for students or coworkers.”

“Staff feel a sense of belonging when their needs are met,” he said. “They have needs around professional development, so think about how you can nominate them for positions, for a task force, and even with ACUI, where you can nominate someone for an award. Find the time to do that.”