Today, Regis College was one of only five colleges and universities in Massachusetts – and one of 103 in the nation - to receive the 2022 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
As a recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — Regis College will be featured, along with 102 other recipients, in the November 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is the third year Regis has been named as a HEED Award recipient.
“This prestigious designation is a welcome recognition of our enduring efforts at Regis to promote inclusive excellence,” said Regis College President Antoinette Hays, PhD, RN. “Equity is one of the institutional priorities of our new strategic plan that will guide the institution for the next three years and adds deliberate focus on being equity-minded in all our practices.”
Regis’ diversity and inclusion efforts continue to have a tremendous impact on the campus community. The university has made significant progress instituting its Action Plan to Address Racism, which was launched in 2020 to recognize the injustices that exist in our society and educate the campus community on how to recognize and address such injustices.
Regis is a leader in this effort and partnered with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICU Mass) to host an inclusive leadership program for higher education professionals. Another recent accomplishment includes a partnership between the Center of Inclusive Excellence and Academic Affairs for faculty to participate in a nationally recognized teaching program through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). Dozens of faculty and staff across the university earned inclusive teaching practices for equitable learning credentials that will enable them to develop a deeper understanding of implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotype threat, and imposter phenomenon in an effort to continuously improve Regis’ ability to promote an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — leadership support for diversity, campus culture and climate, supplier diversity, and many other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”
