The Student Diversity and Belonging collective, which manages the nine campus resource centers, has rebranded as Student Development and Belonging, marking the second major departmental rename on campus in as many months.
The change is intended to highlight the collective’s role in supporting students’ personal growth, identity exploration and overall success at Cal Poly.
“This name change is a deliberate and resolute step to better reflect the core function of the department,” said University Spokesperson Keegan Koberl. “The goal is to provide inclusive, welcoming spaces and support students as they move through their Cal Poly experience.”
According to Koberl, the decision was made entirely from within the department and was not driven by outside political pressure, a distinction officials were careful to emphasize given the broader national climate around diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public universities.
“This name change is not a reaction to any external entity,” Koberl said.
The new name shows a subtle but deliberate change in how the collective presents its mission.
According to Koberl, ‘diversity’ emphasized representation, but ‘development’ centers around what the department actually does day-to-day, where they provide mentorship, identity work and co-curricular programming.
The rebrand also aligns with the CSU Promise and the new CSU Student Success Framework, a systemwide plan aimed at improving career readiness and social mobility, particularly for first-generation and low-income students. The framework calls for high-impact co-curricular experiences that foster self-discovery and prepare students to lead in a global society.
“We are taking this important step to align with our core tenets to engage students in their identity exploration and development, celebrate student communities, cultivate a sense of belonging through spaces and events, and provide support and mentoring to foster success in students’ personal and professional lives,” Koberl said.
At least one page on its website still uses the name Student Diversity & Belonging and several continue to use the term diversity.
The Student Development and Belonging collective manages nine campus resource centers: the Dream Center, Gender Equity Center, Latinx/e Center for Academic Success and Achievement (LA CASA), LGBTQ Campus Life, Men & Masculinities, Multicultural Center, Native American & Indigenous Cultural Center, and the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Initiatives, which was most recently created in 2024.
Broader Changes on Campus
The rebrand follows the Office of University Diversity and Inclusion’s decision in early January to rename itself Culture and Institutional Excellence, or CIX.
Though the two departments are separate, CIX focuses on institutional policy while SDAB houses the student-facing identity centers; the back-to-back rebrands have drawn attention at a moment when DEI offices across the country face heightened scrutiny.
READ HERE: Cal Poly renames OUDI to ‘Culture and Institutional Excellence’
Koberl said that the SDAB rename has no bearing on Cal Poly’s ongoing efforts to achieve Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation, a federal designation granted to universities where at least 25% of full-time enrolled students are Hispanic, a threshold Cal Poly has been working toward.
“The university’s commitment to meeting HSI designation criteria and supporting Latinx/e students remains unchanged,” Koberl said.
The federal pathway to formal HSI designation is currently unavailable as the U.S. Department of Education has paused the application process.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified SDAB as a division. It is a collective of centers within the division of Student Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.