Dear Pacificans, 

As we conclude another academic year, I invite you to reflect on the remarkable strides we’ve made together in diversity, equity and inclusion. Pacific’s shared equity leadership model means DEI is a collective responsibility — and this year’s accomplishments across our campuses illustrate what that looks like in action.

University-Wide Highlights 

A Commitment Five Years Strong 

Five years after the George Floyd protests reignited a global call for racial justice, we are mindful of the ongoing challenges in our world — including rising anti-Jewish, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-women violence. Pacific continues to stay our course. 

Since launching an ambitious anti-racism initiative in 2020 and appointing our first Executive Diversity Officer in 2021, we have embedded DEI into all areas of university life. Last spring, we were proud to receive official Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation, making Pacific among the highest-ranked private universities in the nation with HSI status and one of only 20 with both HSI and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) designations. 

Economic Access and Impact

We’re proud to be ranked: 

• #1 for career earnings among high-Pell Grant universities (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
• #3 Best Value in California (U.S. News and World Report)
• #7 in Ethnic Diversity in California, tied with UC Berkeley and University of Southern California (U.S. News and World Report)
• #23 nationally for economic diversity of our student body

Campus and Division Accomplishments

Athletics

• After a season attracting and recruiting talented coaching professionals, 5 programs are led by female head coaches - elevating Pacific's commitment to inclusive excellence.
• Student-Athlete Development focused on inclusion and community for events, hosting a Black Student-Athlete panel and an Asian American and Pacific Islander Student-Athlete panel led by student-athletes and coaches. 

Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry

• Integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion training into all student and employee orientations Engaged in targeted recruitment with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and organizations like the Society of American Indian Dentists.

Benerd College

• To foster a shared intellectual experience andbuild community and belonging among students, faculty, and staff, the Benerd Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group selected Lily Zheng’s DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right as their annual common read. This adds to previous common reads about unconscious bias and racialized trauma.

College of the Pacific

• Collaborated with the Center for Identity and Inclusion on numerous student events.
• Supported students presenting at national conferences, Speech & Debate tournaments, and Model UN in Manila.

Conservatory of Music

• Pacific’s Orchestras performed a Black History Month concert featuring works by Jennifer Higdon, Alberto Ginastera, Carlos Simon, and William Grant Still. Simon, aBlack American composer, holds the Composer Chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
• Julianna Meneses (BA, Music, ’25) completed an undergraduate research project to study Indigenous Filipino in the Philippines, resulting in her composition “Meditation on a Homecoming.”

Development and Alumni Relations

• Raised funds to create and enhance existing endowed scholarships to support students from underserved backgrounds.
• Created programming for a celebration of the new School of Engineering and Computer Science Hispanic alumni group.
• Supported the establishment of the first Veteran alumni club.

Eberhardt School of Business

• The appointment of two DEI faculty leads to ensure alignment with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business’s Standards of Community and Connectedness.
• The Westgate Center for Leadership Development successfully embeds diversity, equity, and inclusion to prepare leaders who work at multiple local and regional transit agencies.
• The Center for Business and Policy is a leader in research and planning for inclusive economic development in the North San Joaquin Region led by Pacific faculty with student interns.

Finance and Operations

• Investment
  • In FY24, invested in women-owned Palmer Square Fund.
  • Continue to work with our Investment Advisor, Cambridge Associates, to look for opportunities to invest with managers who consider diversity factors in their investment process.
• Procurement
  • Participated in San Joaquin County’s “Get Connected” events (Oct 2024 & March 2025):
    • Connected with local procurement agencies with local small diverse businesses
    • Provided access to certification assistance and capital assistance
    • 60+ small businesses in attendance
  • Updated Pacific’s internal process for collecting diversity classification from vendors through PaymentWorks, our third party vendor registration platform.
  • Updated our internal reports to capture spend with diverse vendors that opted in and provided their classification.
• Internal Audit
  • With our recently hired Director of Internal Audit & Advisory Services, DEI reviews are included as part of most audits.

Library and Learning Resource Center

• Hosted an Equity-Minded Assessment Community of Practice.
• Held the Refresh & Realign Inclusive Teaching Retreat and Summer Course Design Institute embedding equity in pedagogy.
• Led a faculty book club on Becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution by Gina Ann Garcia. 

McGeorge School of Law

• The Juris Doctor program welcomed its most diverse class: 55% students of color, 60% women, 21% LGBTQ+, and 42% first-generation college students.
• Received the 2025 LGBTQ+ Institutional Inclusive Excellence Award from the Association of American Law Schools.
• Continued hosting “Know Your Rights” sessions to support immigration law awareness.

Office of the General Counsel

• General Counsel Lauren Schoenthaler co-presented to 700+ colleagues at the National Association of College and University Attorneys annual conference on national DEI policy trends, helping other institutions navigate change.

Office of the Provost

• Delivered Student Success Seminars on inclusive practices, early grading, and bias prevention, which was recognized at the American Association of Colleges and Universities annual conference.
• Launched two key initiatives:
• Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellows Program (AY25)
• Faculty Leadership Program (AY26)

Pacific Technology

• Established a laptop loaner program for students in need.
• Provided audio/visual support for events hosted by Black History Month organizers, affinity groups, and student clubs.

School of Health Sciences

• Reached 31% Latinx enrollment — the highest yet — redefining the face of healthcare.
• 230 students completed a Gender Affirming Care Intensive, building both clinical and justice competencies.

School of Engineering and Computer Science

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) awarded $795,000 to support 10 high-achieving, low-income civil engineering and engineering management students, with $15,000 scholarships each of their four years and support activities and work-based learning experiences to foster academic confidence, sense of belonging, and career-readiness.
• This year, 6 students attended the national Society for Women Engineers meeting, 9 attended regional and national Society for Black Engineers meetings, and 7 attended national Society for Hispanic Engineers.

Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy

• Opened a meditation and reflection space, proposed by students via the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, for mindfulness and self-care.

Strategic Communications

• Issued a revised writing style guide with expanded guidance and resources on accessible and inclusive writing.
• Increased storytelling of diverse community experiences through news, web, print and social media content.

Strategic Enrollment

• Latinx enrollment rose to nearly 29% of undergraduates.
• Regent Leticia Robles (’89) hosted Noche de Bienvenida, with a 90% first-year retention rate for attendees.

Student Life: Affinity Graduate Celebrations

• More than 240 students attended this year’s affinity graduate celebrations — up from 180 last year. Highlights include:
• APID/SWANA Celebration: 60 students
• Black Celebration: 40 students
• Latinx Celebration: 100 graduates, Banda performance, cultural food, Ballet Folklorico
• Lavender Celebration: 41 graduates recognized by the City of Stockton for LGBTQ+ advocacy
• Native Celebration: 4 students

4th Annual DEI Leadership Retreat: A Watershed Moment 

This spring, we returned to Stockton for our 4th Annual DEI Leadership Retreat, our largest yet. 78 Pacificans from all three campuses gathered to explore key concepts: 

• Belonging: the right to co-create your world
• Othering: exclusion that leads to structural inequality
• Bridging: building solidarity across differences
• Breaking: the denial of complexity and humanity

Participants engaged in real case studies, dialogic learning and community building. Feedback included: 

“Masterfully done… I loved the content, the delivery, and the overall experience.” 

“I appreciated the intentionality… high level of engagement from everyone who attended.” 

“I love being a part of this community.” 

Upcoming Initiatives & Summer Opportunities

As we move into the summer months, here’s what’s ahead:

• Summer Equity Series: In partnership with the Center for Identity and Inclusion, we’ll offer professional development for a limited group of Pacificans. Stay tuned for an announcement on MyPacific.
• Pride Month: Join our university delegations at the Sacramento Pride Parade (June 15) and San Francisco Pride Parade (June 30).
  • Click here to sign up for the Sacramento Pride Parade.
  • Sign-up info coming soon for San Francisco.
• Juneteenth Community Clinics:
  • School of Health Sciences: Free diagnostic screenings
  • McGeorge Law: Traffic ticket and infraction dismissal clinic
• Looking Ahead to AY26:
  • Offer the Pacific Challenge: Cultivating Leaders for Belonging, Change and Inclusion
  • Help practitioners create spaces for dialogue and cultivate agency in students
  • Expand anti-bias education in artificial intelligence for faculty

Gratitude and Commitment

None of this would be possible without you: students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends. Thank you for your commitment to building an inclusive, equity-minded community where everyone belongs.

Let us continue to ask ourselves: “How do we institutionalize love?”

Our work is good work. Our work is necessary work. Our work truly matters.

With deep gratitude,

Mary J. Lomax-Ghirarduzzi
Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Professor of Communication