Engaging the Present, Envisioning the Future: 20 Years of Scholarship, Practice, and Community

The Bowman Center (formerly known as the National Center for Institutional Diversity) recently commemorated its 20th anniversary in early December with a campus-wide symposium—Engaging the Present, Envisioning the Future: 20 Years of Scholarship, Practice, and Community. The symposium convened scholars, university leaders, and community partners to celebrate and reflect upon the Center’s two decades of advancing diversity scholarship and reimagine the future of diversity work in higher education.

The Bowman Center Director, Elizabeth R. Cole, framed this moment as both reflective and forward-looking, emphasizing the importance of sustaining diversity research and scholarship amid shifting institutional and political contexts. Dr. Phillip J. Bowman, our namesake, reflected on the Center’s origin story and pivotal historical moments, and invoked sankofa, a Ghanaian concept, to enjoin us to “look back to move forward,” and strengthen the connections between The Center’s intergenerational community to help plot the future of diversity scholarship and research.

The afternoon panel, Responding to Change: NCID’s Legacy and the Future of Diversity Scholarship and Practice, brought together current and former NCID leaders and faculty to examine how the field has evolved over the past two decades. Moderated by Scott Page a John Seely Brown Distinguished University Professor of Complexity, Social Science, and Management at the University of Michigan, and the Williamson family Professor of Business Administration, professor of management and organizations, Stephen M. Ross School of Business; professor of political science, professor of complex systems, and professor of economics, LSA, the discussion explored emerging challenges, the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of sustaining communities committed to equity.

As the Bowman Center celebrates 20 years of diversity scholarship and research, its next chapter will be shaped by the same commitments that defined its first 20 years: rigorous scholarship, deep community, and an unwavering belief that diversity research matters—not only in theory, but also in practice.