State of Inclusive Excellence
The Office of Institutional Diversity
2025
Welcome to the 2025 State of Inclusive Excellence at Oregon State
Every year, the State of Inclusive Excellence highlights Oregon State community members who make inclusive excellence real—day in and day out. The stories featured this year spotlight just a few of the remarkable people and teams working to advance inclusive excellence through their teaching, research and community engagement.
At Oregon State, inclusive excellence isn’t an initiative, it’s part of who we are. As Oregon’s land grant university, we are driven by a shared mission to expand access and opportunity for all. This means identifying and removing barriers so that everyone can succeed. Across OSU we see incredible examples of individuals and teams working together to advance this shared mission.
This work isn’t always easy. Advancing inclusive excellence asks us to reflect deeply, to ask hard questions about assumptions we take for granted, and to reimagine what’s possible. But it also leads to better outcomes—for our students, for our colleagues, and for the communities we serve. Inclusive excellence fuels innovation, fosters belonging, and helps us build a future rooted in shared prosperity.
To those whose stories are shared here: thank you. Your leadership, your innovation, and your care move us all forward. And to those reading: we hope you’re inspired—not just by the work itself, but by the people behind it. Please take a moment to explore, reflect, and share.
Scott A. Vignos, J.D.
Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer
Catalyst Scholars Program
The College of Engineering's Catalyst Scholars Program empowers first-generation college students by providing support, resources and opportunities to bridge gaps in higher education. This unique program is not just a financial investment, it also provides an investment in students to discover and design the career they are hoping to build.
Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx)
PRAx exemplifies the fusion of arts and STEM to amplify diverse voices through curated artist selections and thoughtful partnerships with community organizations. Performances, including the Indigenous Jazz Club series and performances that integrate technology into the arts, highlight PRAx's role as a nexus for cultural expression and innovation.
Disability and Social Interaction Lab
Dr. Kathleen Bogart, director of the Disability and Social Interaction Lab, is one of the preeminent scholars studying the social psychology of disability. Her work contributes to advancing psychological sciences by advocating for inclusion and driving research on ableism, disabilities and rare disorders, and her research and teaching impact the training and education of future mental health scholars and practitioners.
Spanish for Heritage Language Learners
The Spanish for Heritage Language Learners Program centers students who grew up in a Spanish-speaking environment. The program promotes and supports the identity development of OSU students who are heritage Spanish speakers while preparing them with literacy skills and knowledge for future studies in Spanish and to effectively function in professional bilingual environments.
OSU Extension Fire Program
The OSU Extension Fire Program embeds six regional fire specialists to live and work in their service areas. The specialists bring expertise in their region’s ecology and fire history and collaborate with communities and agency partners on wildland fire outreach, education, fire adaptation strategies and efforts to reduce fuels and restore ecosystems.
Ignite inSTEM
Ignite inSTEM is an outreach program designed to help students discover the wonders of designing nanomaterials that can be used to solve global biomedical, environmental, and energy challenges. The initiative seeks to diversify the biomedical workforce and engage youth from underserved communities in hands-on science, while helping them gain skills in professional development, self-advocacy and identity.
Finish in Four
Being a university where every student graduates is more than a stated goal in Oregon State University’s 2024-30 strategic plan. It requires specific actions — and funding — to make it a reality. Finish in Four Scholars, a program led by the university in collaboration with the OSU Foundation as part of the broader Finish in Four initiative.
Inclusive Cancer Care
The premise of public health is that everyone deserves safe and healthy places to live, learn, work and play. If this were true, all 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S. would have equitable access to treatment services and support, but barriers exist that lead to health disparities. Researchers at Oregon State University are designing inclusive approaches to health promotion that improve cancer care and outcomes.
Beaver Employee Association for Veteran Success (BEAVS)
BEAVS is a new employee affinity group aiming to provide professional development and mentorship opportunities tailored to veteran employees. Whether it’s guidance on career advancement, connecting with other veterans in higher education or simply having a space to share experiences, BEAVS aims to be a resource for those who have served.
Lyra Health
Oregon State provides employees mental health support through Lyra Health, offers mental health coaching, therapy, and other support to OSU employees and their dependents. Lyra Health provides culturally competent care, responding to needs voiced by OSU employees and affinity groups.
OSU-Cascades and City of Bend Welcoming Week
Since 2017, Bend has joined cities nationwide in hosting Welcoming Week, an annual campaign by the nonprofit Welcoming America to promote more inclusive, resilient communities, particularly for immigrants and refugees. In 2024, Bend partnered with OSU-Cascades to extend that welcome to the students who study and live in Bend, strengthening the partnership between the city and the university.
State of Inclusive Excellence at Oregon State Reception
Tuesday, May 27
Noon to 1 p.m.
Toomey Lobby, Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx)
(Recording)
Recognition of Oregon State University community members—students, employees and partners—who through their creativity, innovation and determination advanced our shared inclusive excellence mission during the past academic year. Featuring remarks from President Jayathi Y. Murthy and others.
Special Thanks
University Relations and Marketing
- Oscar Zepeda
- Darryl Lai
- Gary Dulude
- Molly Rosbach
- Becky Barrett
University Housing & Dining Services
Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts
Media Services
OSU-Cascades Community Relations and Marketing
City of Bend
OSU Foundation & Alumni Association