Smeal’s Office of Diversity Enhancement Programs has transitioned from a collection of adjacent offices to a newly renovated space in the Business Building.
DEP staff views its new home as an engagement hub where students, faculty, and staff are welcome.
“With spaces like this, it helps students learn about the opportunities to get involved in organizations that will benefit them, but also the opportunities to help them further their careers, all while being an open and supportive space for Black and POC students,” said Zeina Delgado, a junior risk management major who is president of NABA: The Organization for Black Business Students.
According to Jamie Campbell, assistant dean for diversity enhancement, the new space offers a new way of collaborating. “I think of it as community in practice,” he says. “We talk about having a place for students, but we now really have a space where they can come and they can sit and talk and just be.” – Karyn Schaller