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Connecticut State Community College (CT State) received the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award on Oct. 3 from Insight Into Diversity magazine, a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion

CT State was among 16 community colleges and 113 other higher education institutions nationally selected as recipients of the award.

"We are deeply honored to receive this award, a recognition that reflects our unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive and equitable learning environment,” said CT State President O. John Maduko, M.D. “This achievement celebrates the collective efforts of our faculty, staff and students in championing diversity and empowering all voices within our community."

Insight Into Diversity selected CT State for demonstrating a commitment to diversity, campus climate and inclusivity initiatives, training activities, the formation of affinity groups, diversity in leadership, campus cultural events, and hiring practices that have led to a 79 percent increase in faculty and staff of color.

“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — leadership support for diversity, campus culture and climate, supplier diversity, and many other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

As a recipient of the annual HEED Award, CT State will be featured, along with other recipients, in the November/December 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.

For more information about the 2024 HEED Award, visit insightintodiversity.com.

About CT State

Following the merger of Connecticut’s 12 community colleges on July 1, 2023, CT State Community College is now the largest community college in the Northeast and sixth-largest in the nation, serving a diverse population of nearly 70,000 students annually that is more than 50 percent students of color. As Connecticut’s largest and most affordable institution, CT State provides high-quality accessible, inclusive education that enables students to achieve their life and career goals. Students benefit from a streamlined financial aid process and can apply once to take classes at any CT State campus, which includes Asnuntuck (Enfield), Capital (Hartford), Gateway (New Haven and North Haven), Housatonic (Bridgeport), Manchester, Middlesex (Middletown and Meriden), Naugatuck Valley (Waterbury and Danbury), Northwestern (Winsted), Norwalk, Quinebaug Valley (Danielson and Willimantic), Three Rivers (Norwich), and Tunxis (Farmington and Bristol). The college’s central office is located in New Britain. Visit ctstate.edu for more information.

 

About Insight Into Diversity
Insight Into Diversity magazine is the leader in advancing best practices in DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in higher education. Through print and online articles, they share expert advice, valuable resources, in-depth profiles of top DEI programs at colleges and universities, headline news, and much more to help keep our readers informed and empower them to advance DEI initiatives at their institutions. To further their mission, they created the Insight Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in 2012. The HEED Award — including the more targeted Insight Into Diversity Health Professions, Law School, and Community College HEED Awards — is the only national honor to recognize institutions of higher education for their outstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Current, archived, and digital issues of Insight Into Diversity magazine are available online at insightintodiversity.com.