Grinnell College

On June 29, 2023, Grinnell's President and Vice President for Enrollment issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads in part as follows: "These decisions reverse more than fifty years of work toward racial equity in education and will change how applications for admission are evaluated at colleges and universities across the nation...Grinnell College’s commitment to diversity preceded affirmative action and remains undeterred; it is significantly challenged by the decisions of the Supreme Court today, but it is undeterred."

In order to achieve its diversity, equity, and inclusion goals at Grinnell, the college has developed a "Four Quadrant Model" which includes "Campus-wide level-1 diversity, equity, and inclusion training" and a "Three-level training curriculum." 

The Office of DEI Community Training, Education, and Belonging at Grinnell College "works to collaborate with people to position them to make powerful decisions about their future and create an environment where people can be their authentic selves across identities intersectionally." 

The Economics Department at Grinnell has committed to promoting "diversity and inclusion in the major," and "recognize[s] the underrepresentation of traditionally marginalized groups in the major and acknowledge the inherently unequal world in which we study and live." To this end, the department would "commit to offering courses and course content that are relevant for students from diverse backgrounds" and would "commit to using intentional teaching practices to create an inclusive classroom environment." 

The college outlines how community members can report a bias incident and states, "A bias incident is an act of prejudice against an individual or groups based on their actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth, religion, disability, creed or any other protected class."

Grinnell made a $50,000 donation to Black Lives Matter.

On September 1, 2022, Grinnell News announced that its Associate Professor of Education, Stephanie Jones, received a $6,000 American Philosophical Society Franklin Grant for her project titled "Mapping Racialized Trauma: A Critical Race Spatial Analysis of Counter Cartographic Narratives of Race and Racism in Schools."

The Racial Equity Fund at Grinnell College "provides grants to community organizations actively advancing racial equity by changing policies, institutions, or systems to address individual and/or institutional racism so that our community has a more intentional, proactive, and cooperative approach to creating a culture of equity and anti-racism."

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Grinnell was established "to address the shortage of minority scholars on college and university campuses." The program is "open to talented undergraduates who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. who demonstrate a commitment to diversity and to diversifying the academy" and "must be planning graduate study toward a Ph.D."

The Marie Nesbitt Promise Prize at Grinnell College is "awarded annually to a second- or third-year student of African descent who excels academically, shows leadership potential, and is willing to engage in community outreach." Additionally, awardees (scholars) "receive a monetary award and attend a summer leadership workshop."

The college's commencement speaker "developed an 'affirmative duty' technique for facilitating unlearning racism workshops. This method helps shift participants’ awareness, commitment and skill-sets toward being actively and personally anti-racist and anti-sexist, rather than remaining merely passive observers."

The library said that it will be, "Reviewing and revising outdated and racist catalog, metadata, and finding aid descriptions" and "Fostering an inclusive learning and working community through accessible spaces, resources, and events seamlessly accessible to faculty, students, and visitors regardless of ability and individual circumstances."

Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality studies at Grinnell "offers students a broad foundation in feminist, critical race, and queer scholarship and activism."

On August 8, 2023, Grinnell News published an article titled "Grinnell Celebrates the Launch of New Department of African Diaspora Studies," which states "in light of ongoing national conversations around affirmative action, critical race studies, and more, establishing an African diaspora studies department highlights Grinnell’s commitment to diversity."

The college published its 2019-2020 Diversity and Inclusion Plan which "seeks to provide a roadmap for diversity and inclusion efforts at the College."

On November 12, 2020, Grinnell announced that it joined the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. Grinnell's "faculty and staff will be afforded opportunities for learning, growth, and change created by the Alliance’s resources."

In June 2024, Grinnell College hosted an event titled "Unteaching Racism" which is described in part as follows: "By educating faculty, with anticipation of their impact on students, we will encourage attention to, and correction of, examples used in syllabi, classroom and research projects reflecting racist ideologies in the life sciences or their applications."

Grinnell College's 2023-2030 Strategic Plan recommends "[expanding] the curriculum and programming to include classes and events that connect with multiple and intersecting identities" and "[building] identity-based peer mentoring programs for majors and concentrations."

The college library issued a statement, "Acknowledging that libraries and archives are not neutral and have served as instruments of exclusion, colonialism, and assimilation, and by identifying ways both large and small to undo this harm."

The Department of Sociology at Grinnell issued a "Black Lives Matter Solidarity Statement" which reads in part as follows: "The Faculty of the Grinnell College Department of Sociology support the Black Lives Matter Movement and all those who stand against systemic racism. We condemn racism in all its forms...We know that structural racism is the result of a baseless set of attitudes toward the social construct we call 'race'...White supremacy distorts relationships between people, threatening the health of the nation and the future of democracy. This trauma takes many forms: outright violence, diminishment, deprivation and discrimination toward one’s person and efforts, erasure, promises broken, distortions of fact to protect white comfort and advantage, and exhaustion."