Cal State LA has received the 2022 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the nation’s oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
As a recipient of the annual HEED Award—a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion—Cal State LA will be featured in the November 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is the fourth time that Cal State LA has been named as a HEED Award recipient.
“Our commitment to diversity is unwavering,” said Cal State LA President William A. Covino. “We recognize the value of our diversity, and we celebrate it.”
 INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected Cal State LA for demonstrating an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The university is one of six institutions in California to receive the honor.
“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 university has also recently received the Health Professions HEED Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity for its success in fostering diversity and inclusion in the Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing. The Health Professions HEED Award recognizes U.S. medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, nursing, veterinary and allied health schools that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
During this year’s University Convocation, President Covino announced the launch of the Health Professions Center and the Martin Delany-Pan African Studies (MDpas) pathway to Medical School Program, housed in the College of Ethnic Studies.
The new center will educate culturally diverse and culturally responsive health-career professionals who are homegrown—students from and trained in local communities.
The MDpas pathway supports students with a robust mentorship program, internships and research opportunities as students major or minor in Pan African Studies while completing the prerequisite courses to be eligible to apply to medical and other health-career schools.
The Health Professions Center and MDpas provide a phenomenal opportunity for students, said Lawson Bush, chair of the Pan African Studies Department at Cal State LA.
“We are not just talking about increasing the numbers of health care professionals of color, which stands alone as significant,” he said. “Instead, because the pathway to these careers is anchored in the College of Ethnic Studies and Pan African Studies, our students are introduced to indigenous cultural healing epistemologies and practices that will make them better healers than their counterparts arriving to their professions from other institutions.”
Established in the fall of 2020, the College of Ethnic Studies is the newest college at Cal State LA and one of only two colleges of ethnic studies in California. The college centers the histories, traditions, cultures, experiences, struggles and accomplishments of diasporic communities of color, making connections between the local and transnational. It is home to the departments of Asian and Asian American Studies, Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies and Pan African Studies.
For more information about the 2022 HEED Award, visit the INSIGHT Into Diversity webpage.
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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 26,000 students and has more than 250,000 distinguished alumni.
Cal State LA is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility, Billie Jean King Sports Complex and the TV, Film and Media Center. For more information, visit www.CalStateLA.edu.
