Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Two silver mannequins display wearable art at the Transgender Day of Visibility Art Showcase. The mannequin on the left wears a flowing cape made of overlapping silver guitar picks or metallic discs. The mannequin on the right wears a colorful pixel-patterned outfit adorned with small charms and fringe details. Artwork and photos are visible on display panels in the background.

Art, Identity, and Community Shine at MSU’s Transgender Day of Visibility Showcase

March 31, 2026

Snyder-Phillips Hall was filled with art, music, and conversations for the second annual Transgender Day of Visibility Art Showcase on March 21. The event, which spanned from 1 to 6 p.m., included a community arts showcase, keynote speaker, art workshop with guest artists, awards, and more. The event celebrated Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), an internationally recognized holiday that was…

Artist Stacey Robinson and Professor Julian Chambliss sit onstage in conversation at the MSU Museum's Speculative Futures event. Behind them, a projected slide displays Robinson's "Black Kirby" artwork featuring a comic-style illustration. A packed audience watches from tables in the foreground.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Event / Faculty / Faculty / Lecture Series / News / Student / Student / WRAC / XA

Student View: An Evening of Afrofuturism at the MSU Museum

March 4, 2026

Aditi Gonuguntala is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Michigan State University majoring in Experience Architecture with a minor in Graphic Design. She also is a Communications Intern in the Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact and University Communications and Marketing. In this Student View, she writes about the Speculative Futures: Afrofuturism and the Art of Stacey Robinson event hosted by the MSU Museum.

Smiling person with long wavy hair stands with hands on hips in front of a green wall display reading “Michigan State University,” wearing a light-colored lace top and a bright pink skirt.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Humanities-Prelaw / News / Student / Women’s and Gender Studies

Student Reconnects with Anishinaabeg Heritage and Discovers Unlimited Potential at MSU

February 20, 2026

Every Spartan’s path to Michigan State University is different. There are many reasons students find themselves pursuing their future at MSU, but for Kaylin Casper from Los Angeles, California, the reasons were ambition and heritage. “I lived really far away from my Anishinaabeg family,” she said. “As the great-granddaughter of federal Indian Boarding School survivors, coming back to Michigan State was a way for me to be closer to my tribal community to reclaim my cultural knowledge.”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / International Impact / News

MSU Theatre Professor Survived a Forgotten War and Is Refusing to Let It Disappear

February 19, 2026

Long before he became a Professor of Theatre Studies and Integrative Humanities at Michigan State University, Philip Effiong Jr. was a child struggling to survive a war the world would largely forget. During the Nigeria-Biafra War, he endured air raids, hunger, and displacement —experiences that left lasting psychological and emotional scars. Decades later, those memories have become the foundation of two memoirs.

A composite image featuring five movie posters arranged in a grid. The top row contains three posters: "Boca Chica," "La Cocina," and "La Singla." The bottom row contains two larger posters: "We Shall Not Be Moved" and "Zafari." The posters span a diverse range of cinematic styles, from high-contrast black-and-white to lush, colorful photography.

Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Film Screening / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Spanish

Largest Latinx Film Festival in Michigan Returns to MSU Feb. 19-22

February 12, 2026

The MSU Latinx Film Festival (LxFF), the largest Hispanic/Latino/Latin American film festival in Michigan, returns Feb. 19-22 with screenings and events across Michigan State University’s campus and the city of Lansing. A biennial, curated festival, LxFF brings acclaimed independent films from Latin America and the Latinx diaspora to the Midwest, featuring works that are rarely screened in the United States and that invite audiences to engage with the world from new perspectives.

A promotional graphic for Douglass Day on February 13, 2026, featuring the Colored Conventions Project. The top half of the image has a dusty rose background with the event title and the website DouglassDay.Org in white text. The bottom half features a collage including a vintage sketch of a Black man and woman, an archival illustration of a convention assembly, and a torn paper element referencing the Fourteenth Amendment from June 1866.

Digital Humanities / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / U.S. Impact

Preserving Black History: MSU Celebrates Frederick Douglass’ Legacy with Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

February 11, 2026

Michigan State University is celebrating the life and legacy of renowned 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass and inviting the public to join the festivities for the annual Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon on Friday, Feb. 13, from noon to 3 p.m. The event will take place in the MSU Main Library’s Digital Scholarship Lab Classroom and Flex Space, with portions of the program streamed live on YouTube.

Rachel Zhai stands at a podium holding notes while delivering an oral presentation to an audience seated in a lecture-style room at the Diversity Research Showcase.

Art, Art History, and Design / Award / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Event / Film Studies / French / Humanities-Prelaw / Japanese / News / Research / Student / Student / Theatre

Arts & Letters and RCAH Students Earn Awards at Diversity Research Showcase

January 30, 2026

Students from the College of Arts & Letters and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) earned top honors at the 9th Annual Diversity Research Showcase hosted by MSU’s Honors College. Thirteen students from the two colleges presented their research, with two RCAH students receiving first place in the poster presentation category and a College of Arts &…

A person with black hair stands smiling on a windswept sand dune overlooking Lake Michigan, wearing a green sweater and backpack. Behind them, rolling dunes, grasses, and a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Religious Studies / Research / Scholarship

Professor Researching Indigenous Environmental Stewardship with Support from Newberry Fellowship

November 10, 2025

Elan Pochedley, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and 1855 Professor of Great Lakes Anishinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices, was awarded the Newberry Consortium in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (NCAIS) long-term faculty fellowship to research how Indigenous peoples’ expressions of environmental stewardship and governance have been practiced, sustained, interrupted, and/or rekindled throughout the central and western Great Lakes region.

An Asian woman with black short hair and an all-black sleeveless dress with a v-neck, holding a silver microphone and wearing a black watch. She is on a stage with a banner display behind her that says "Ignite Talks" in white letters on a red background.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / News / Student / Student / WRAC / XA

Words that Ignite and Unite: Student Research Explores How Language Builds Community and Advocates for Change

November 6, 2025

Alex Guo, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, is researching the power of language to build community and advocate for change. With dual majors in Humanities-Prelaw and Experience Architecture and minors in Business and Leadership in Integrated Learning, Guo represented the College of Arts & Letters at this semester’s Ignite Talks…

A person in a green shirt on the left helps a group of four people plant strawberry plants in terracotta pots.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Faculty / Faculty / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Research / U.S. Impact

MSU and Georgia Tech Receive Mellon Funding for Research Project Combining Afrofuturism, Humanities, and Horticulture

November 5, 2025

Michigan State University has joined the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in The Earthseed Project, a humanities-centered research initiative that uses Afrofuturist literature to connect horticulture, climate resilience, and food sustainability knowledge and practices. The Earthseed Project at Michigan State University uses spaces like the Beal Botanical Garden to bring people together to discuss current topics and develop a…