America’s institutions of higher education—liberal arts colleges, comprehensive universities, research institutions, community colleges, and others—are not only centers of learning, but also key community resources. They create a halo effect along economic, cultural, and social dimensions that extends into the greater society. At a time when division, anger, and acrimony are acting like caustic solvents on the civic fabric of the United States, institutions can help the nation bridge those divides by creating opportunities for reasoned dialogue and understanding.

The challenge today is to learn from and leverage existing research, translating general findings to specific contexts and for different audiences. That effort can help ensure that an institution’s mission driven diversity and inclusion goals are clearly defined, effectively pursued, and legally permissible.

With a special (though not exclusive) focus on racial and ethnic diversity, this paper is intended to support those efforts by:

1. Surveying the current research landscape related to student diversity in higher education for areas of strength and areas in need of further exploration;
2. Suggesting prospective research directions that may inform action within individual institutions and in the broader higher education community; and
3. Identifying policy and practice implications for institutions in a shifting political and legal landscape.

This paper is focused on assisting individual colleges and universities as they work to enhance their own research efforts, informed by the broader landscape of common principles and interests at play in the broad higher education community.

(Research/Case Study) This article notes the experience of the Bryn Mawr College community in 2014 to address racism in the college community and beyond, after the college was rocked by several bias and racist incidents.

The article discusses the leadership role of faculty in developing inclusive classrooms and educational environments across higher education in the U.S. amid the increasing racial and ethnic diversity among college students. Topics include the expected increase in minority enrollment at postsecondary institutions in the U.S. between 2009 and 2020, the requirement for the universities' crucial role in addressing this diversity and an introduction to other related articles within the issue.

ScholarWorks is the searchable, open-access institutional repository administered by the University Library to collect, organize, disseminate and preserve the digital scholarly output of Georgia State University faculty, students and staff.

This chapter summarizes how diversity experiences influence college students' educational outcomes and offers recommendations for practice to maximize these benefits on all campuses.

Racial trauma can be defined as the cumulative traumatizing impact of racism on a racialized individual, which can include individual acts of racial discrimination combined with systemic racism, and typically includes historical, cultural, and community trauma as well.

As a professor, Moore explains how she effectively uses her classroom to engagement in challenging and conflicting conversations with her students, especially in times of heightened public crisis.

Black and Latinx communities have been hit considerably harder by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both racial/ethnic groups have seen rates of infection well above their percentage in the general population and African Americans have seen rates of death from COVID–19 as high as twice their percentage in the general population.

While the recent legislation has focused on charges of illiberalism in higher education, the issues at the center of the bills often extend beyond the academy.

This essential, groundbreaking, research from Dr. Clance and Dr. Imes at Georgia State in 1978 brought a new term to the fore, describing experiences of high achieving women: the imposter (impostor) phenomenon, or sometimes as it has been described in the popular press, "impostor syndrome."

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated xenophobia and bigotry toward Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Psychologists are identifying ways to address the distress caused by that hate.

At many higher education institutions, recent academic years have been characterized by debate and conflict over what it means to be a diverse and inclusive campus, how to ensure free speech while safeguarding against uncivil acts, and whether there are limits to civil discourse.

Board members increasingly have a role in how a campus addresses conflicts over critical issues related to campus climate, free speech, diversity and inclusion. Governing boards bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that appropriate policies exist to support an institution’s educational mission and create a culture that supports student well-being and success. Increasingly, board members are also expected to be visible on campus, to demonstrate understanding and concern, and to ensure that current policies are implemented to manage tensions over two types of inclusion: meaningful inclusion of all people in the campus community, and inclusion of a range of ideas and perspectives that enable colleges and universities to remain places of robust dialogue and debate.

Since retiring two years ago after sixteen years as president of Drake University, I have had many conversations with college and university presidents regarding the vast array of challenges that they and their institutions are facing.

Even though the U.S. economy is projected to regain its pre-pandemic strength as early as 2024, the negative impact to Black workers' previous labor market gains could linger after the country recovers from the pandemic-related recession, according to new policy research from a Georgia State University faculty member.  Julie L. Hotchkiss, a research economist and senior policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who is also an adjunct professor at Georgia State's Andrew Young School of Policy studies, explained the issue in this policy paper from the FRB of Atlanta's Policy Hub.

(Research/Briefing) Undergraduate campuses remain spaces where students are challenged to engage with worldviews and commitments different from their own—and the implementation of programs that facilitate such engagement is not without its trials. Communicating across divides is an important skill for active citizenship in the United States, especially as the country is experiencing both rapid diversification and rabid polarization.