Wichita State’s Ambassadors for Diversity and Inclusion rebranded to the Student Belonging Coalition in August, with the focus of helping students find community and celebrate their backgrounds.
The change from ADI to the Student Belonging Coalition came after the Office of Diversity and Inclusion merged with Student Engagement, Advocacy and Leadership in 2024. It also came after a state bill in August instructed public universities to eliminate policies, positions and programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The merger of ODI and SEAL, which became the Office of Student Engagement and Belonging, took place before the August legislation.
Liz Thornton-McGaha, assistant director of student experiences for Student Engagement and Belonging, advises the belonging coalition and emphasizes that recognizing diversity is still central to their work.
“We are really pushing that we want every Shocker to feel like they belong,” Thornton-McGaha said. “We have an understanding that every single person that walks into that room comes with their own background and their own identity that is beautiful in its own way.”
The Student Belonging Coalition is a student-run organization that is a part of Student Engagement and Belonging. Staff at SEB support the initiatives and ambitions of the coalition members to better students’ campus experience.
The shift from Ambassadors for Diversity and Inclusion to the Student Belonging Coalition was partially motivated by its goals of expanding ways it could reach out and assist other students.
Members incorporate their own perspectives to the coalition’s efforts. Many of them are part of other student organizations, which builds a larger network to help SBC provide value to students, Thornton-McGaha said.
“We have seen in the past that sometimes, as professional staff, we can host programs, we can host cultural events, but when the students are the ones who are running it, we are more likely to have student participation,” Thornton-McGaha said.
Student organizations come to the belonging coalition to improve what they offer to their members and fill in gaps that are outside their scope.
Iván Castillo, student program coordinator and a Student Belonging Coalition adviser, believes the value goes beyond any specific organizations, groups or the coalition itself.
“We try to support students in what they want to do,” Castillo said. “When I say students, it’s not necessarily just our membership, but also looking at what is the overall student experience.”
Advisers for the belonging coalition, like Thornton-McGaha and Castillo, agree that it is in many ways a bridge for students to the rest of the WSU community. This takes form through creating opportunities for connection both on and off campus.
SBC’s efforts to educate others on community and diverse identities, whether that be race, sexual identity or socioeconomic background, continue to provide value on campus, Thornton-McGaha said.
The process of rebranding from ADI to SBC was not due to federal and state policy shifts related to DEI, Thornton-McGaha said, but they did shorten the timeline for developing a new brand from the standard 10 months down to four.
Advisers are aware of how these policy changes potentially affect students.
“At a time where students are feeling a lot of different feelings — regardless of what’s going on in the world — we’ve kinda taken the approach of how do we create space where students can have those intentional conversations with each other,” Castillo said.
Thornton-McGaha highlighted how Student Belonging Coalition members who identify as LGBTQ hosted a presentation for LGBTQ history month in October. This effort created a space for other LGBTQ students to find community and resources they needed on campus.
Organizations throughout campus also seek to keep diversity front and center by asking the coalition to provide resources on programming focused on diversity.
The Student Belonging Coalition was able to avoid the larger changes made at Wichita State concerning DEI policies because it is a student organization, Thornton-McGaha said, meaning most decisions are in the hands of its student leaders, not advisers or the university.
The coalition is designated as a student group operating within SEB. This gives SBC more flexibility in its operations while having access to resources that help with its initiatives.
WSU leadership also did not pressure SBC to make changes to its branding or operations, due to the dual student and office organization status, Thornton-McGaha said.
The advisers to SBC said another goal for the organization is to create ways for students to be involved that are manageable for their busy lives.
“We tend to attract a lot of over-engaged students or over-involved students, which is great and we love to have,” Castillo said. “But, sometimes there are those conversations of like — ‘How do we make sure their engagements are also sustainable for them as students?”
Students interested in joining the Student Belonging Coalition must go through an application process that opens each spring semester to join for an entire school year, starting in the following fall.
The biggest consideration for advisers is finding the best ways to support the ambitions and ideas of coalition members, while also making sure the experience is enjoyable and rewarding.
“It is a lot of work, but it should be a fun experience,” Castillo said.
Students interested in joining SBC must meet certain requirements, including a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA. People can email [email protected] with any questions.
