ArtCenter accessibility | How one of America's top art colleges is rising above the 'reactionary' media DE&I debate

Debates around DE&I ‘controversy’ are already a dime a dozen in 2024. It’s tough to avoid headlines about ‘wokeism’ such as prompted by former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s unceremonious resignation.

But as HR leaders, focusing on noise, politics, and discourse can distract from the ultimate goal of creating a fair, equitable, and engaging employee experience for all workers.

Examples like Gay and Harvard have placed a spotlight on academic institutions. This makes such colleges an excellent case study when considering how HR leaders can escape this reactionary debate, and instead focus on embedding values around accessibility.

Take the example of ArtCenter College of Design, which Lisa Sanchez, Vice President, Employee Experience and Engagement (HR) describes as “the Harvard of art colleges.” Sanchez is all too aware of the danger of being distracted by the debate.