Over the past year Calvin’s hiring of minorities has gone up to 28 percent, according to Dr. Michelle Loyd-Paige, executive associate to the president for diversity and inclusion. Only five years ago, this hiring of minorities was under 10 percent. Currently, full-time staff of color make up 11 percent of the staff.

At the most recent town hall meeting on Oct. 4 in the Fish House, President Michael Le Roy was asked about what is being done to increase diversity among Calvin’s faculty and staff.

“What [we] are committed to first and foremost is to have an excellent Reformed Christian faculty,” answered Le Roy.

President Le Roy defines an “excellent” faculty and staff as one that holds to the Christian Reformed faith and has the ability to relate to students. According to Le Roy, in order for this to be done effectively, a diverse staff is necessary. A staff or faculty member must be able to represent or relate to experiences and backgrounds of Calvin students.

“Having a diverse and inclusive faculty is part of our definition of excellence,” said Le Roy.

Calvin College has been working slowly but steadily towards a more diverse faculty and staff for a long time, and an important catalyst is the “From Every Nation” document (FEN). Established in 1985, this plan focuses on becoming a “genuinely multicultural Christian academic community.” The title comes from Revelation 7:9: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”

The 2004 revision of the FEN plan was titled a “comprehensive plan for racial justice, reconciliation, and cross-cultural engagement.”

It was modified again in 2010, but its primary goals have remained the same for the past 13 years: to develop a more racially and culturally diverse campus, to become more welcoming of all races and cultures and to learn to recognize and fight against both explicit and implicit racism.

Part of the FEN plan is increasing the number of faculty and staff from diverse populations. In order to help raise these numbers, there has been diversity training throughout the college’s staff. The training covers unconscious bias, holding one another accountable and being open and engaged with other cultures.

The strategic plan for 2019, as approved by the board of trustees in 2014, explains how the college is going to work to strengthen diversity. It lists recruiting responsibilities for departments and details on how to retain a staff that is more culturally, ethnically, racially and socio-economically diverse.

“We are seeing those populations improve and the diversity of faculty and staff commensurately improve,” said Le Roy. “And we’re hiring great people, so I think that’s an important part of the conversation as well.”

On Oct. 23, the Campus Climate Survey on Diversity and Inclusion will be opened. Faculty, staff and students will be able to share their experiences and opinions with diversity at Calvin. The results of this survey will help give context to Calvin’s diversity,showing where we are and what still needs to be done.

Le Roy acknowledges that while there has been significant progress over the past few years, there is still a long way to go.

“Are we done, are we satisfied?” He asked. “No, I think we have the ways to go. But we’re on a path that over the long run will make Calvin a great place.”