$4M donation launches Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

A $4 million gift from the Stone Foundation has launched a center at the University of Michigan to better understand and address rising wealth inequality.

The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics will pursue cutting-edge research to comprehensively understand changes and stability in inequality across generations, time and place, and propose novel solutions to address them.

The center also seeks to expand the social scientific data infrastructure to support research on these topics.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Stone Foundation to address one of the most important issues of our time,” said Fabian Pfeffer, the center’s founding director and associate professor of sociology at U-M.

“Before COVID arrived, wealth inequality in the United States had already reached its highest levels since World War II. Yet, we’re only beginning to understand the growing divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’

“The problems arising from extreme inequality are impacting many aspects of our lives, particularly those of the next generation. As researchers, we have to take action in a major way, and the generous gift from the Stone Foundation is allowing us to do just that.”

The center will use the new funding from the Stone Foundation to create an interdisciplinary research hub that brings together inequality experts from across campus, the country, and the world. It also will help train the next generation of inequality and wealth scholars.

Researchers at the Stone Center will create new forms of public data that will allow a broad community of researchers and policymakers to address wealth inequality and its intergenerational persistence.

“Cathy and I have been concerned about growing economic inequality for decades. We both believe the study of wealth inequality is worthy of our greatest philanthropic commitment,” James Stone said. “We’re excited to support the talented research team at the University of Michigan on such an important endeavor.”

The mission of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation is to promote a more knowledgeable and inclusive society, with a special emphasis on environmental sustainability and the mitigation of wealth inequality.

“The Stone Center will advance fundamental understanding of wealth inequality and its implications,” said Kathleen Cagney, director of U-M’s Institute for Social Research. “We’re tremendously grateful to James and Cathleen Stone for their generosity, which builds upon and strengthens ISR’s contributions to research on economic well-being.”

This article originally appeared in the November 18, 2021 edition of The University Record

To the University of Michigan Community,

As we head toward the holiday season, I once again invite you to complete the DEI climate survey if you have not already. The climate survey provides one of the most effective and influential ways to hear your voice and experiences. The survey results will be critical to our evaluation of our first DEI strategic planning efforts and provide foundational information to support the University’s upcoming DEI 2.0 planning process.

As a result, the survey represents an integral mechanism by which voices that have historically been minoritized and invisible within the larger university community can help transform the University into becoming more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

In developing the DEI climate survey, my staff has worked tirelessly to engage broad swaths of the university community to help create an instrument that is as inclusive as possible. We have spent countless hours working with members of different communities, including those whose experiences we hope the climate survey will better represent. Additionally, we have worked with experts to develop a survey that would respectfully capture the full panoply of experiences at the University. Despite these concerted efforts, we have not gotten it entirely correct.

For example, I recently received an open letter from our student community expressing concerns and providing suggested changes to demographic questions related to gender and sex. Let me first say that I acknowledge the harm experienced by some members of our community in completing the items in question. For that, I apologize. I am deeply sorry.

In our efforts toward continuous improvement and learning, we met with the author of the open letter to better understand the raised concerns. As a result, we have amended the survey to address the concerns raised in the letter and to hopefully avoid a similar situation moving forward. Invoking any type of harm is entirely contrary to our goal of empowering voices that have felt silenced, overlooked and/or underrepresented.

While we are not perfect, we are committed to always doing the best we can and always being open to learning.

In closing, I want to thank you if you have already completed the DEI climate survey. If you have not completed the survey, I encourage you to do so as soon as you are able. Your participation matters and will contribute to creating a more inclusive and equitable campus climate for all. We need to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Sellers

Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer

The University of Michigan is partnering with SoundRocket — an independent, third-party, research and survey methodology company — to administer a diversity, equity and inclusion climate survey to the Ann Arbor campus community.

This survey is a follow-up to the university’s 2016-17 DEI climate survey and will ask every student and university employee — including Michigan Medicine employees — about their perspectives, opinions and experiences related to diversity, equity and inclusion at U-M.

The survey will take respondents approximately 15 minutes to complete, and responses will be confidential. No one from the university will have access to any identifying information.

“We want to hear everyone’s voices,” said Robert Sellers, vice provost of equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “As we continue to work toward improving our campus climate, the survey is one tool we are using to demonstrate we value the many different perspectives of our community members.

“The feedback received from the survey will be used to measure our progress from 2016 and further our efforts to create an environment where everyone feels welcome, supported and valued.”

SoundRocket will begin sending survey invitation emails Oct. 28.

Differing from previous years, this year’s survey approach will consist of a census survey and sampling survey, taking place simultaneously.

The census survey will be available to all Ann Arbor campus students, faculty and staff, and a scientific sampling of community members also will be conducted. The sample group will receive a slightly longer version of the survey to complete. No one will be asked to complete two surveys.

“Special efforts will be taken to ensure those who receive the sample survey are statistically representative of the university as a whole,” Sellers said. “These steps will include a larger incentive for those who will take the longer survey, additional effort to contact those respondents, and follow-up with those who do not respond to initial participation requests.”

While participation is optional for everyone, every member of the campus community is strongly encouraged to complete the climate survey. All survey participants have a chance to win prizes, including $100 gift cards and other giveaways, for participating.

Participation also is strongly encouraged because the availability of unit-based climate reports will be contingent upon a high enough response rate within the unit to protect respondent confidentiality.

Survey questions were developed over the past year by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in consultation with a faculty advisory committee. Subject matter experts from the campus community and survey research experts from the university’s Survey Research Center also collaborated to develop the survey.

The climate survey will be open until mid-December and results will be available in March 2022.

The 2021 climate survey comes as the university is concluding the fifth year of its DEI Five-Year Strategic Plan, DEI 1.0. Following a yearlong evaluation process and a yearlong planning process, led by ODEI, the university will launch DEI 2.0 in October 2023.

“During the evaluation year, central and unit-level content and actions from DEI 1.0 will be thoroughly assessed to determine what actions and initiatives worked well, what actions and initiatives did not work well and what new DEI issues warrant greater attention in the future,” said Katrina Wade-Golden, deputy chief diversity officer and director of implementation.

“Findings from the evaluation year will then help guide the planning period and the information we gather will be used to help plan content and implementation strategies for DEI 2.0.”

Just as the university continues to engage in development activities between major fundraising campaigns, it will continue DEI commitments between strategic plans, including the work of the university’s DEI Implementation Leads.

In his annual leadership address earlier this month, President Mark Schlissel said, “Though we’ve made tremendous progress with our initial five-year DEI Strategic Plan, there is still much work to be done and this requires constant vigilance and a commitment to continuous improvement.”

This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2021 edition of The University Record

The struggles of first-generation college students are well-known: feelings of self-doubt, uncertainty, a sense of not belonging and trouble accessing help and support. In the end, less than 30 percent nationally graduate in four years.

But new statistics show that the Kessler Presidential Scholars Program at the University of Michigan has closed the achievement gap: Its first-generation students graduate at the same rate as their continuing-generation peers.

Now a $40 million gift from the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation will endow the Kessler program at U-M in perpetuity.

The Kessler Scholars Program is a revolutionary, data-proven approach to supporting first-generation, limited-income students’ success, built on research about how students succeed, and with demonstrated positive outcomes such as higher graduation rates and a greater sense of belonging.

Based on the premise that tuition aid alone is not enough to ensure success, the program is designed to go far beyond a traditional scholarship and offers significant, wraparound academic, social and career support for college students who are the first in their families to attend college. The program is housed in LSA.

New statistics prove the program’s success. In 2021, the Kessler Scholars graduating cohort attained a four-year graduation rate of 83 percent, higher than their first-generation U-M peers starting at the same point (75 percent) and virtually the same rate as their continuing-generation peers (84 percent). The six-year graduation rate for the Kessler Scholars Program historically is 94 percent, slightly higher than U-M’s overall six-year graduation rate (93 percent).

“We have learned that just giving students a scholarship is not enough,” said Fred Wilpon, a New York-based business executive, real estate developer, former owner of the New York Mets, and founder of the Wilpon Family Foundation. “As a first-generation college student myself and a graduate of U-M, I know the importance of having a close-knit community and a sense of belonging on campus.”

“Through this gift and the resources offered in the program, we want students to feel secure, empowered and engaged so they can excel and become the next generation of global leaders.”

Now in its 13th year at U-M, the Kessler Scholars Program underwent a major redesign in 2017 to focus on research-based support for first-generation college students. Originally focused on providing scholarship funds, the program has significantly broadened its scope to provide comprehensive support for students by pairing funding with a community of peers, support staff, networking engagements with alumni and U-M leadership, a peer mentoring program and more.

The program currently supports 157 students across all four years of their undergraduate education and serves as a national model for how higher education institutions can reimagine and revolutionize support for first-generation students.

U-M is the original home of the Kessler Scholars Program. Over the last several years, LSA and U-M have led the program’s national expansion to five other colleges and universities — Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, Queens College, St. Francis College, and Syracuse University — with the launch of the Kessler Scholars Collaborative.

A partnership with the Wilpon Family Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies is expected to expand the Kessler Scholars Program to up to 10 new institutions as part of the American Talent Initiative’s efforts to increase limited-income student enrollment and retention at colleges and universities nationwide.

“Fred and Judy Wilpon are passionate advocates for first-generation students, and we are thrilled and deeply moved to receive this gift,” said Anne Curzan, dean of LSA. “Truly supporting first-generation student success goes beyond financial resources, and with this generous gift, we can ensure that they continue to receive community-driven support and mentoring to succeed at U-M and beyond.”

According to a U.S. Department of Education 2018 report, first-generation college students make up a third of all students enrolled in postsecondary education but are twice as likely to leave school without a college degree than their peers whose parents have a bachelor’s degree. Various factors explain why this is the case, including a lack of mentorship and professional networks, difficulty navigating college campus culture, and lack of awareness about financial aid options.

The Kessler Scholars Program is designed to address these issues and the results of its success are evident. Beyond the improved graduation rates, 95 percent of students in the Kessler Scholars cohort who reached the four-year graduation mark in 2021 reported a strong sense of belonging at U-M across their time at U-M, and 55 percent took leadership roles in student organizations.

“First-generation students bring enormous talent and unique perspectives to the University of Michigan — and they face challenges other students don’t. U-M is fully committed to ensuring that students do more than arrive at Michigan. We want them to thrive here,” President Mark Schlissel said. “I am deeply grateful for the Wilpons’ generosity, which allows Michigan to support these outstanding students as they achieve success in the classroom and their communities.”

The majority of Kessler Scholars are from Michigan, and about one-third of the students supported are from outside the state, including from Illinois, New York, California and Ohio. Since 2008, the program has awarded scholarships to more than 400 undergraduate students at U-M.

“The Kessler Scholars Program has helped me in so many ways during my transition to college as a first-generation student,” said Briarre Johnson, a second-year U-M student and current Kessler Scholar.

“Their support during the pandemic was greatly appreciated because when things went virtual, they still held Walk-In Wednesdays so we were able to stay connected, which just showed their commitment to keep the community united. The staff also serves as a listening ear for me, which means a lot to me because I am able to have people who truly care listen to my needs, accomplishments and goals.”

The program selects 40 incoming first-year students each academic year to join the four-year support program. Scholars attend workshops focused on a range of personal, academic and professional topics designed to promote students’ sense of belonging at the institution, which research has demonstrated drives student success.

Kessler Scholars alumni go into an array of industries including education, health care, technology, business and law. The program has 252 alumni across the country.

“The program helped me initiate and maintain community. This value of the importance of building and maintaining community has stuck with me and has been a core component of my decisions and career,” said Margarett McBride, a 2018 LSA graduate and Kessler Scholars alumna who is now a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“Even my (doctoral) research seeks to understand how to create safe and nurturing communities. I thank the Kessler Scholars Program for further instilling this value in me when I was in undergrad and allowing me to continue to be a part of their community and legacy.”

“Research shows that money is not the sole solution to ensuring the success of first-generation, limited-income students, but providing them with a community, a strong peer and alumni network and academic support — all of these things enhance the student experience,” said Gail Gibson, director of the Kessler Scholars Program. “We are committed to building social capital for students so that they can thrive at U-M and in their lives and careers after Michigan.”

Judy and Fred Wilpon are LSA and U-M alumni, both graduating in 1958. The Kessler Scholars program was named in honor of Judy Wilpon‘s parents, Irene and Morris B. Kessler, who emigrated from Europe and eventually settled in Michigan. Judy and her two sisters, Bonnie and Mickie, all graduated from U-M.

With the new gift, the Wilpons have donated more than $75 million to U-M, including $61 million to the Kessler program.

In honor of the Wilpons’ support of the program, the new addition of the LSA Building, which opened in January 2020, will be named the Kessler Student Center. The space is a home on Central Campus for all LSA students and houses services dedicated to meet their academic, personal and professional aspirations, including the LSA Opportunity Hub, Transfer Student Center, LSA Scholarship office and optiMize.

This article originally appeared in the October 29, 2021 edition of The University Record

LSA senior Vincent Pinti takes to heart the University of Michigan’s stated diversity, equity and inclusion strategic plan goal of creating a campus community where all “members are welcomed and supported and differing perspectives and contributions are sought out and valued.”

As a student living with a genetic neuromuscular condition, spinal muscular atrophy, which causes him to use a wheelchair, he knows firsthand how isolating it can feel to be a part of a minority or marginalized group, within a large institution.

“It seems at a first glance, a naked eye view, there are not many people here that look like me, that share my lived experience, that empathize with the adversity that I experience,” said Pinti, who is majoring in political science and minoring in Spanish.

“As a result, at times, it can feel very lonely, and it becomes growingly challenging to be able to teach and share the life I was given with the world.”

But instead of focusing solely on himself and his studies, Pinti decided shortly after arriving on campus to leave his mark at U-M by working to raise the profile of disability advocacy among student government, and by working against ableism to develop a more equitable community.

“There is no room for doubt, uncertainty, apathy or passing the buck,” he said. “It is all of our responsibilities to make sure every student feels welcome here.”

Because Pinti is using his lived experience to explore and find ways to make U-M — and the world — a more accessible place, he will be honored with the university’s James T. Neubacher Award during a virtual ceremony at 2 p.m. Oct. 29.

The Neubacher Award is presented annually to a U-M faculty or staff member, student, or alumnus or alumna for significant achievements in: empowering people with disabilities; advocating for or advancing disability rights or disability justice; and increasing the accessibility of programs and services to promote disability inclusion.

With the country facing a shortage of personal assistants or home health aides, causing a growing crisis for disabled and elderly people, Pinti recently sponsored and successfully passed a resolution within Central Student Government to create an internal scholarship for students working as personal care assistants. The program offers valuable experience to students going into health care and related professions.

Pinti is also calling on university administrators to create a database of personal-assistant jobs at U-M, to ease the labor of recruiting individual Pas — a task that often falls to disabled individuals.

Pinti said he plans to continue his advocacy work past graduation from U-M. He said his next goal is to attend law school so he can become a legal advocate and make a case for how the law should be interpreted and reimagined to support individuals with a variety of disabilities and bent toward providing them with better support.

“People with disabilities have such little control over their destinies — who they can marry, where they can work, how much income

they can have, where they can live,” Pinti said. “We are in the 21st century. There is no legitimate reason that these barriers still exist, so I want to be a catalyst for their erosion.”

This article originally appeared in the October 25, 2021 edition of The University Record

The University of Michigan will host the fourth annual First-Gen Student Week, November 1 – 4. First-Gen Week celebrates both the accomplishments and challenges that are unique to first-generation college students.

A community of over 4,000 students, First-Gen Week events offers an opportunity for community building while raising awareness of this student population on campus.

“First Generation students are generally identified as students who are the first to attend or graduate from college, but in reality, the journey of these students is so much more complex,” says Adan Hussain, FirstGen Program Manager. “First-Gen week is a great opportunity to bring these students together, but also show that there’s a community surrounding them who are in their corner and are rooting for their success.”

Supported by the Office of Academic Multicultural Affairs (OAMI), Office of New Student Programs (ONSP), Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP), Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA), and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), the fourth annual First-Gen Week provides opportunities for the University community to learn and engage with First-Generation students at the University of Michigan.

This year’s events include a series of in-person and virtual events geared towards orienting and re-orienting themselves with the support, services and resources available to the First-Gen community.

“The University of Michigan offers a variety of resources to support our First-Gen community, whether, through allyship or direct involvement, each and every one of us can play a part in their success.”

Additional support for FirstGen week is provided by the U-M First Year Experience (FYE), First-Gen Engin, First-Generation College Students@Michigan and College of Literature, Science & the Arts.

To learn more about First-Gen Week events, visit myumi.ch/a0zvY.