The rise and fall of DEI at Chapman

Graphic by Emily Paris, Photo Editor

The office of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Chapman first started in 2021 and saw rapid growth with the hiring of multiple directors and implementation of many initiatives in a short amount of time. But as fast as it came, the DEI department has now effectively vanished. 

The DEI office went from hosting events, cultural graduations and supporting students to effectively disappearing from campus, with the future of what will become of the new unit that was created in its place still unclear. 

February 2017: Cross Cultural Center Opens

The Cross Cultural Center (CCC) at Chapman was the first fixture that was put in place of what later became the DEI office. The CCC opened its doors in February 2017, and was introduced as a place where all students could gather and be exposed to diverse perspectives and identities.

Another focus of the CCC was to give students from underrepresented groups not only a place to gather, but a place to access resources to help them feel more supported during their time at Chapman.

The CCC was conceptualized and eventually opened at Chapman after many students pushed for more diversity and inclusion on campus, particularly in the face of discrimination many students from underrepresented communities faced on campus, such as a swastika being drawn in the dorms and racial slurs being used. 

July 2021: vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion is hired, DEI office is created

Chapman began the recruitment process to hire a VP of DEI in August 2020 after a campus protest of around 100 students led by the Black Student Union gathered in Memorial Lawn. The protest particularly focused on an article that then law professor John Eastman had written and demanded that the Chapman administration condemn its racist views. 

The protestors, however, also highlighted multiple occasions during which Chapman had failed to address racist incidents, such as the “The Birth of a Nation” poster that used to hang in the hallways of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, the invitations of multiple right wing commentators, such as Ben Shapiro to speak on campus and a former student shouting racist and homophobic slurs.

Chapman hired Reginald Stewart in July of 2021. This marked the beginning of the DEI office and saw, for the first time at Chapman, a DEI staff member having senior status. This decision was made to give the position of diversity and inclusion, which already existed at Chapman, more authority and more resources.  

Shortly after the hiring of Stewart, the office of DEI was officially created in August 2021. 

February 2022: Director of Latinx Achievement is hired

Gabriela Castaneda became the first of many directors to be hired into the DEI office. Catsaneda was hired as the director of Latinx achievement in Feb. 2022. Her main goal when she joined the DEI office was to attain a Hispanic Serving Institutions designation for Chapman. 

Castaneda’s aim was not only to increase the rate of Latinx students at Chapman, but to also increase the graduation rate and post-graduation success among Chapman’s Latinx community. She also planned to ensure more support for the Latinx staff and faculty and to provide more support for professional development and upward mobility in their careers. 

May 2022: First Generation Programs and CCC merge

In May 2022, Araceli Martinez was hired as the executive director of the Cross-Cultural Center and First-Generation Programs, effectively merging both programs under her leadership. 

This change came after the previous three directors of the CCC resigned within the span of one month during the fall semester of 2021, one of whom cited the lack of support from the administration as one of the reasons for his departure. 

Martinez’s role was focused mostly on helping students adjust to life in college and on helping them find places where they could build community. 

A year later, in March, 2023, Athina Cuevas was hired to the role of assistant director of the CCC and Promising Futures Program to help the expansion of programs and support for both the CCC and PFP. 

July 2022: director of Black excellence and achievement is hired

Misty Levingston was hired in July 2022 to the role of director of Black excellence and achievement. Her aim for the role was to provide Black students at Chapman a place where they could find support and voice their concerns at a time student enrollment, particularly among the Black community, had been decreasing since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

June 2023: LGBTQ+ director of pride and achievement is hired 

In June 2023, Kevin Nguyen-Stockbridge was hired to the role of LGBTQ+ director of pride and achievement to support LGBTQ+ students and staff. A big part of his role was to provide students and staff with resources regarding things like gender identity and sexuality. He also served as an advisor to the VP of DEI as far as LGBTQ+ realities and issues were concerned. 

March 2025: VP of DEI placed on leave

In March, 2025 Stewart, the VP of DEI was placed on leave without explanation along with Provost Norma Bouchard. Castaneda was placed to lead the DEI office in Stewart’s absence. Since then, Stewart has officially left his position at Chapman. 

This marked the beginning of the end of the DEI office. 

The leave of Stewart came shortly after Chapman was placed under investigation by the federal government and during a time when many universities were contending with the push from the Trump administration to eliminate DEI on college campuses. 

The decision to place Stewart on leave and not communicate it to students was met with a large student walkout to demand the protection of DEI on campus. The protest was organized by a coalition of over 30 student organizations and saw the attendance of around 300 students. 

April 2025: DEI office is dismantled

On April 17, President Danielle Struppa sent out an email to the Chapman community that effectively dismantled the DEI office. In his email, Struppa announced the reorganizing and renaming of the department that were made in order to meet new requirements universities had to make to continue to receive federal funding. 

The news of the renaming and reorganizing of the DEI office was met with a smaller protest, in which around 100 students participated demanding the return of the DEI office. 

The email announced the reorganization to a new unit called “First-Generation and Promising Futures Programs,” which Dean of Students Jerry Price will lead, in addition to the Fish Interfaith Center. In addition, the email announced the promotion of Price to senior vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

This new unit will now handle the managing of the CCC and many of the directors of the DEI office were given new positions within it.

• Director of Latinx achievement Castaneda now holds the role of vice president of First-Generation and Promising Futures programs

• Executive director of the Cross-Cultural Center and First-Generation programs Martinez retained the same title, which will now operate under the First-Generation and Promising Futures Programs unit

• Director of Black excellence and achievement Levingston now holds the role of director of First-Generation and Promising Futures programs

• Assistant director of the Promising Futures First-Generation Program and Cross-Cultural Center Cuevas retained the same title, which will now operate under the First-Generation and Promising Futures Programs unit

• Director of pride and achievement Nguyen-Stockbridge now holds the role of director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning