In January 1889, Utah Territory was still seven years shy of becoming a state. Its entire population (207,905) was smaller than the current population of Weber County. And in the bustling railroad town of Ogden, Weber Stake Academy opened its doors to provide the surrounding community access to education.
For 135 years, through six name changes, two world wars, pandemics, depression and times of social upheaval, Weber State University has remained true to its founding principles, which included offering a quality education that “the humblest in the land” could afford, and where men and women from “all nationalities and religious denominations” could better their lives.
On July 1, we faced another transition. Weber State, along with all other state offices and institutions, implemented changes to comply with the new state law established by HB261 Equal Opportunity Initiatives.
This new law prohibits “discriminatory practices” that have become associated with diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
As part of our response to HB261 and our corresponding restructure, Weber State is revising job descriptions and reassigning personnel from our Division of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. This includes repurposing identity-based centers to a new Student Success Center that is open to meet all students where they are, foster vibrant communities, offer individualized student coaching and cultivate an environment where all 30,000 WSU students achieve academic and personal excellence.
Seeing drastic reductions of DEI programs in other states and sensing the inevitability of similar cuts in Utah, I made the painful decision to close our identity-based centers.
Going forward, the centers would have been required to narrowly focus on cultural education and prohibited from providing academic support resources. Because the centers will be evaluated on outcomes they could not directly achieve, we would be setting them up to fail. Therefore, we are reassigning the center staff to address overall student success, coaching and navigational support.
Weber State will continue to provide opportunities across the university to promote cultural understanding.
The mood on campus since announcing these changes on April 19 has been somber, with many faculty and staff mourning the center closures. I sense the loss because of my many conversations with students, alumni and community members who have advocated for and benefited from the cultural centers at Weber State.
But for every message I’ve received from people upset about this decision, I’ve heard from other university and community members who support the change.
Regardless of your take, this is a difficult and significant transition.
We can be frustrated about this change or view it as an opportunity to reimagine how we achieve even greater levels of student success. Staff roles and responsibilities have changed from serving students based on their identity to focusing on personalized attention through individual relationships — something that has been a Weber State hallmark for generations.
While this new law brings change, it doesn’t alter Weber State’s commitment to becoming an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution. Being located in Utah’s only majority Hispanic and Latino school district, and in the spirit of Weber State’s founding principles, we strive to provide educational opportunities for all members of our community. That’s essential if we want to ensure Utah’s continued economic vitality.
As I’ve met with concerned community stakeholders, several have told me, “I’ll be watching” whether these changes adversely affect our students.
Frankly, I welcome that scrutiny. It comes with being a public institution of higher education, and especially an open-enrollment university.
As part of our accreditation process, Weber State annually examines our success at unleashing the potential of students and closing achievement gaps, not just along the lines of gender, race and ethnicity, but also in terms of first-generation, socioeconomic status, college readiness and other factors.
This level of self-review provides opportunities to assess how our restructuring is working. We will closely monitor data to see if the new approach to student success brings the desired improvements in overall student retention and completion, or perhaps leads to unintended consequences.
As we embrace this change in our approach to serving students, I’m reminded of something I said early in my presidency. Weber State is “not just a university that imparts learning, but a university that itself is learning. Learning to better serve a diverse array of students from every background. Learning to better serve and enrich our community. Learning to have a positive impact in today’s ever-changing and too-often-divided world.”
I still believe in those words. Perhaps our institutional vision says it best: “Weber State University will be a leader in transforming lives by meeting all students where they are, challenging and guiding them to achieve their goals academically and in life.”
For 135 years, this has remained our unwavering goal and commitment. And if we’re successful, all of Utah stands to benefit for decades more to come.
(Brad Mortensen)
Brad Mortensen is president of Weber State, which has been repeatedly recognized for its top-ranked affordability and strong return on investment for graduates.
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