In February 2023, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism hired Alexis Ojeda-Brown to be it’s new diversity, equity and inclusion program coordinator, now two months in, speaks about her progress and future plans.
Ojeda-Brown graduated from the University of Maryland in 2018 with a degree in English literature and American history. For the past few years, she’s worked in DEI at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
She says her archival work combined with her passion for DEI is what piqued her interest when seeing an opening for DEI coordinator at Merrill.
“During my time in museums, whether it’s helping with curating exhibitions, or doing public programs, researching for text panels, I relied heavily on the work of journalists. I lived on newspaper archives,” Ojeda-Brown said.
Thus far, the DEI coordinator has been reaching out to campus publications, talking to students and getting a feel for where students and faculty see DEI is at currently and where they want it to be.
One of Ojeda-Brown’s tasks for the upcoming academic year is pushing for Merrill students to become reporters who are knowledgeable on how to report on all types of people.
“I think all Merrill students, whether you’re white or non-white, should have that cultural competency aspect. I think it should be ingrained in Merrill, it should be ingrained in journalism period,” Ojeda-Brown said. “Not just diversity in the newsroom, but in the stories they’re telling, and making sure that our journalists are empathetic and know how to report on communities different than their own.”
She also metaphorized the ties between journalism and history, and the importance of getting the story depicted as accurately as possible when it pertains to groups of folks that a reporter may not be as familiar with. Journalists have power, Ojeda-Brown says, not only to shape the way many people view a single person, but also how people view themselves.
“Journalism also gives people mirrors where you can see yourself reflected in media. And that’s what I think Merrill can do, it does do, but I think it can do better,” Ojeda-Brown said.
Junior journalism and government major Auzinea Bacon says the diversity of the University of Maryland isn’t accurately represented in the Merrill student body. She recounts being the only Black person in her classes up until her sophomore year.
Bacon was contacted by a former editor in chief of The Black Explosion to revive the National Association of Black Journalists organization’s chapter at UMD (locally known as Maryland Association of Black Journalists, or MABJ). The UMD chapter has been inactive for the past few years, but with the help of Bacon’s friends and journalistic colleagues, they were able to revive the organization and even regain national recognition.
Creating this space has been very important for Bacon, as well as other Black journalists at UMD. Bacon says it allows Black student journalists to come together in a safe space where they can speak freely about their experiences in the journalism sphere.
Joel Lev-Tov, president of the relatively new UMD chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists organization, says creating a space for LGBTQ+ journalists at Merrill was essential in the strive for both diversity and inclusion in collegiate journalism.
“One of the biggest things we’re trying to do is just create a space for queer students at Merrill because it feels like there are vanishingly few of us,” shared Lev-Tov, on the topic of why NLGJA was important to bring to UMD, which they revived around November 2022.
When discussing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at a collegiate level in journalism, Bacon says efforts should be focused on what students are learning in the classroom. She says that a week of class dedicated to DEI is not enough, and that learning should continue past a single class.
“A really good way is to start training professors to have diverse perspectives. Diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t just something that you learn and you’re done,” Bacon said. “You can’t just implement one class or unit and think that’s going to make a long term difference.
Lev-Tov says that recruiting a more diverse student body for the journalism school is another essential step in the DEI journey.
“Get a student body that does not reflect the cultural norm,” they said “Recruitment would be number one. And number two would be creating spaces for those students to feel at home.”
Ojeda-Brown has said a large focus for her is recruiting more students of color and students from different class backgrounds.
Lev-Tov emphasizes that student groups such as MABJ and NLGJA are a big part of creating these spaces, but it is difficult to sustain them without active support and outreach from an administrative level, something that they say becomes a conversation about the true testament of the school’s commitment to DEI.
“As the administration walks the walk, they don’t talk the talk is my impression. They are very happy to emphasize how many students they have that, for example, are people of color, which is great, but touting your diversity only goes so far when you don’t actively support those organizations,” Lev-Tov said, who notes that other members of the NLGJA at UMD may not agree with their perspective on this.
Lev-Tov says that they will be keeping a close eye on the future of DEI at Merrill, along with support of student organizations from the administration, especially with the incoming new dean Rafael Lorente.
“Inclusion looks like having every life experience represented,” said Lev-Tov. “Diversity to me means that everybody not only feels welcome, but feels included and encouraged and not alone.”