On Jan. 15, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the Centennial Conference announced its creation of a three-year strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plan, uniting the conference’s 11 private, Division III institutions in a shared mission to make their athletics programs a place where all students, particularly those in marginalized populations, feel they belong.
Dr. Ajhanai Keaton
“We think it’s crucially important for the growth and development of student athletes and for everyone involved that we have DEI, always. We want to be leaders in that,” says Hoeg.
The strategy is groundbreaking. While some independent athletic organizations and institutions may have created their own internal DEI plans, Centennial is the first conference to publicly prioritize DEI and promise to track their institutional and conference-wide progress on those initiatives. This both acknowledges the steps these 100-plus-year-old member institutions have taken on their own and the room left to improve. Experts say that Centennial’s plan is leading the way at a time when DEI programming and supports, particularly in Southern states with athletic powerhouses like Alabama, Texas, and Florida, have come under legislative attack.
Hoeg says the timing of their announcement was purely coincidental, as she and the 11 institutional leaders on the Centennial President’s Council have been working to assess and align their campuses’ DEI policies since before 2022, when Centennial released its Student-Athlete Inclusion Policy.
“The states where the terminology DEI is under attack — we didn’t see that part coming,” says Hoeg. “[We’re] fighting the good fight for equality and inclusiveness. Knowing the state of affairs right now in DEI, I’m really happy we are working on it.”
Developing a plan
