Sinclair College Receives Top Diversity in Business Award

Sinclair Community College received the “Outstanding Diversity Champion” Award for a large organization on October 15, 2020, during the Dayton Business Journal’s 2020 Diversity in Business Awards virtual event.

The awards recognize organizations that have contributed to harnessing diversity within their work forces and actively taking the lead to promote and champion the business case for diversity within the community or their industries.

The concept of diversity at Sinclair Community College encompasses the acceptance, inclusiveness, engagement, and mutual respect among students, faculty, staff, administrators, and members of the broader community.  

In July, 2020, the Sinclair Board of Trustees allocated an additional $1 million to intensify existing efforts supporting Diversity and Equity initiatives. 

“I applaud the Sinclair College Board of Trustees who selected diversity, equity and inclusion as a top strategic priority.  Increased financial commitment and many hundreds of faculty and staff have brought us to this point where Sinclair now has the highest minority and the highest African American student success rates in Sinclair’s history,” said Dr. Steven Johnson, President – Sinclair Community College.  “The new measures amplify Sinclair’s existing Strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategies and call for focused efforts in implementing anti-racist policies across all areas of the college including campus safety and law enforcement, hiring practices, ongoing diversity training for all college employees, measuring and tracking progress and continued work with the local community to improve practices.” 

A new, step-by-step actionable plan calls for active measures embracing anti-racism. Sinclair believes that a stance of “not being racist” was not enough for members of the college community and that Sinclair must work actively to be systematically “anti-racist.”  

  

Over ten years, Sinclair has experienced more than a 400% increase in the number of degrees and certificates awarded to African American male students and an over 200% increase for all minority students.  

FY 2020 saw record numbers of associate degrees awarded to the following populations:

• Minority students; 37% over the previous year  

• African American students:  40% over the previous year

• African American males:  33% over the previous year

Sinclair continually analyzes the data of the student population to develop support systems.  For example, Sinclair’s African American Male Initiative (AAMI) is a completion initiative designed to help young men find their passion, walk in their purpose, and reach their potential.

Specifically, the purpose of the program is to retain students from term to term, ensuring that students maintain a GPA in good standing, experience personal and professional development, and complete their degree/certificate on time (within 2-3 years). This program is culturally relevant and supports men of color at their level of need, whether it is academic, professional, social, or emotional.

In the spring semester of 2020, Sinclair’s AAMI achieved the following results:

• 70% persistence rate for AAMI students during spring 2020

• 3.0 Average cumulative GPA among AAMI 2020 graduates

• 2 years, 1 semester (or 7 terms) is the average time of degree completion among 2020 graduates 

• 7 AAMI 2020 graduates are entrepreneurs

“Sinclair is committed to working towards, not only eliminating all forms of systemic racism, but also creating an anti-racist campus culture -- a strong commitment to being anti-racist in every actionable way possible,” added Dr. Johnson.  “Though Sinclair has made impactful strides in terms of being a college that is committed to equity, there is still much work to be done. Sinclair remains committed to bringing about real, lasting, systemic change by ensuring that the future is much brighter for our Black students and that our entire community has a fair opportunity.”

Sinclair’s Chief Diversity Officer, Michael Carter, was a panelist during the Diversity in Business Awards virtual panel discussion.

To learn more about Sinclair’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, visit:

https://www.sinclair.edu/student-life/diversity-on-campus/