The Office of University Diversity and Inclusion was renamed to Culture and Institutional Excellence (CIX) in early January.
CIX will lead the programs that OUDI was known for, including BEACoN, I Am First-Gen, the Diversity Partners Network and the Student Internship Program, but align closer with the CSU Forward Strategic Plan.
The Provost Office also partnered with CIX to coordinate a response from the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Maritime Academy to the California State University’s Black Student Success Initiative, according to the CIX website.
In response to Black students, staff and faculty reporting experiences of cultural isolation and underrepresentation at Cal Poly and the Black Student Success Initiative wants to address this through strategies to improve belonging and excellence across Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and the Solano campus.
The core values of this effort are universal student success, belonging and wellbeing and empowerment and representation.
The name change reflects the work of the office that is increasingly working to strengthen institutional practices, cultivate a unified and welcoming university culture and foster environments for student and employee success, according to the CIX website.
Culture and Institutional Excellence is separate from Student Diversity and Belonging which houses the race and ethnicity and gender and sexuality centers, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
Students react to the name change
However, some students have negative reactions to this name change, expressing concerns about taking away the words “diversity” and “inclusion.”
“I think changing the DEI name, just to not have DEI in the title is just kind of weird and I guess it shows Cal Poly is trying to be focused on its reputation,” English sophomore Isaac Gardner said.
Taking out the words diversity and inclusion was not explicitly stated in reasoning for the name change.
“What is not changing is our commitment to inclusive excellence and to the partnerships and initiatives many of you engage with across the university,” the website read. “This transition is intended to bring greater clarity to the purpose and scope of the work, even as CIX remains responsive to the broader goals of the CSU and the lived experiences of our community.”
Environmental earth and soil sciences sophomore Eden Okumura said that this name change doesn’t show that Cal Poly is supportive of people of color and that it is trying to divert from the original message of DEI.
“It does sound very political,” Okumura said. “I’d like for Cal Poly to be more openly supportive of people of color and especially more vulnerable people like immigrants. And also with ICE raids currently, I think they can show a lot more support for vulnerable communities.”
Since coming into office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has taken a stance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs through executive orders and in a Feb. 14, 2025 letter, urged universities to stop race preferences in admissions, financial aid and institutional programming.
After, the U.S. Department of Education opened investigations into multiple universities for their involvement with The PhD Project, which according to their website, limits eligibility based on the race of participants.
Mechanical engineering sophomore Elizabeth Gatten said that she doesn’t think the name change reflects CIX’s goals.
“I think taking the words diversity and inclusion and substituting it for excellence doesn’t really get their message across because they say they want to foster the same goals,” Gatten said.
She added that taking those words out “kind of makes it less inclusive.”
Music junior Kat Griswold said that a name change is not necessary and she wants to see a Cal Poly that is proud of its diverse student body, and one that wants to get a more diverse student body.
“Language is a powerful thing and so it does worry me that Cal Poly is using less language to embrace diversity on campus,” Griswold said.
Communications studies and Spanish senior Andrea Valle was involved with the BEACoN program during her sophomore and junior year, and she thinks the name change will attract more individuals to BEACoN. BEACoN is centered around underrepresented students, but is open to all, and provides research opportunities to these students.
Valle said prior with diversity and inclusion it was more of Cal Poly saying “hey we are here for you,” but now with the name change, it’s like she feels like “we are all part of the community.”
“It’s not kind of a separate, ‘if you’re looking for more diverse opportunities, you need to go to BEACoN,’ it’s more like ‘okay we’re a part of every culture, everyone is all one, we’re all together,’” Valle said.
Valle said the only way she heard about BEACoN is through her email and thinks it should be discussed more in the colleges and on the Cal Poly Instagram. She thinks that the research greatly impacts the professors and the university as a whole.
“I really appreciate how much visibility it is for those who maybe don’t feel as welcomed or as access to research opportunities based on their cultural background,” Valle said. “But I think BEACoN has definitely shined light onto those individuals with their cultural background.”
In regards to the name change, sociology senior Isela Lagunas said that she thinks the name change takes away some people’s identity. Lagunas used the I am First-Gen subsection of the now Culture and Institutional Excellence website, a place to connect first generation students with resources, including a place to discover faculty, staff and administrators who are first generation.
This included one of her first professors, and she said that during class, she did not feel super alone, learning that he knew what it meant to be first gen and maybe the struggles of belonging.
“Reading about the professors, knowing their background stories and their journeys to be here at the institution, that is a part of their identity and the experience that they have within the college,” Lagunas said.
Lagunas said a part of the professors story is connected to diversity, inclusion and equity.
Lagunas wants Culture and Institutional Excellence to bring forth student stories and give more opportunities for students to be able to share cultural aspects of their life and identity.
This story originally appeared in the January printed edition of Mustang News. Check out more stories and the full edition here.
