Key points

University imagery and portraits can send subtle messages of exclusion to people of color.

Campus visuals often marginalize BIPOC students through tokenism, stereotyping, and invisibility.

White savior imagery in university programs reinforces harmful and outdated power dynamics.

True inclusion is more than diverse images and must include diverse faculty, deans, and trustees.

Universities today are eager to broadcast their commitment to diversity. They publish glossy brochures filled with smiling students from various backgrounds, release statements on inclusion, and point to their demographic numbers as proof of progress. But for many students of color walking through these predominantly white institutions (PWIs), there is a jarring disconnect between the institution’s wor

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