MOORHEAD – Concordia’s new IDEO (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Opportunity) office will work alongside Campus Ministry, broadening efforts to make Concordia students feel welcome at the school.
Kelly LaFramboise, who is also a new addition to the school, leads the IDEO office which was established in June 2024.
LaFramboise says that currently, her main role is designing trainings for faculty and staff around issues of belonging.
“I really want everyone at Concordia… to feel like you belong here,” LaFramboise said.
LaFramboise is a firm believer that diversity and inclusivity are for everyone, not just groups that stereotypically or historically don’t “fit in.”
She works with a wide variety of groups on campus, including faculty, administration, the Center for Student Success, Student Engagement, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission (DEIC) and Campus Ministry.
LaFramboise’s office is within the Campus Ministry’s office in Knutson Campus Center, where she is right next door to Reverend Dave and Kim Adams.
LaFramboise states that she has worked closely with both pastors, who have helped to teach her about Lutheran tradition.
She argues that beyond Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), the IDEO office is upholding Lutheran foundations of “loving thy neighbor” and committing itself to Lutheran values like justice and community.
“Inclusion and belonging work is really a part of who we are as a Lutheran institution. It’s not political, it’s part of our identity,” LaFramboise said.
Also working with Kelly LaFramboise is Michael Chan, vice president of the Mission and Inclusion office.
He agrees with this position, saying that inclusion work is something that he does due to his Lutheran identity, not in addition to it.
“It’s not something we do alongside our Lutheran identity,” Chan says.
So far, LaFramboise has found no glaring issues with Concordia’s commitment to inclusion, although she thinks that Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) could communicate more effectively to students.
The BIRT team reviews bias incident reports filled out from the Concordia website. These reports are for if someone has experienced bias based on things like race, religion or gender.
They can be filled out by the discriminated party or by a witnessing third party.
LaFramboise wants this report made known to all students and to produce an annual report so that the campus can be aware of how many reports are filed every year.
According to LaFramboise, BRIT did an annual report in either 2017 or 2018, its founding year, but has not completed one since.
Lots of LaFramboise’s work so far has been behind the scenes, meeting with many different groups and planning staff training.
Some of the more visible work that LaFramboise has been doing is helping to organize events, such as this year’s “Belonging Bash,” which in previous years was referred to as the “Multicultural Celebration,” and before that, the “Multicultural Mixer.”
She said the event was put on to be a fun get-together of sorts for new and returning students during orientation.
Present at the Belonging Bash were games, food and drink, music and an inflatable carnival game.
Students danced, ate, and even had a water balloon fight in front of the Dovre Campanile lawn.
Also on the planning committee for this event was Sumaya Abukar, a second-year student who acts as the Club Access Vice President and Student Government Association (SGA) Diversity Advocate.
Abukar said her time working with LaFramboise went well and that she is hopeful for the future of DEI on campus.
She thinks the IDEO office is a positive thing for both the majority and minority of students on campus.
“I’m just hoping it’s something that is utilized well and won’t be something that starts really high up and just goes downhill,” says Abukar.
Be First to Comment