Several members of the Davis Center’s Community Engagement Fellows (CEFs) team resigned on Monday, marking the latest episode in a series of organizational changes within the office of institutional diversity, equity and inclusion. According to Professor of History Carmen Whalen, the Davis Center’s interim director, multiple members of the CEF Program “[chose] not to continue in these positions for the spring semester.”

While several of the fellows quit, Whalen says that she is confident that the Davis Center will fulfill its current obligations to the student body. “The Davis Center’s drop-in hours continue to be offered by staff,” Whalen said.

Whalen also reiterated that fall semester workshops, often attended by CEFs as part of their training for hosting facilitating workshops, would continue to be hosted by Davis Center staff members

Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes expressed that student concerns were also her concerns. She also vowed to contact the CEFs who departed. “Upon learning that some of the CEFs had resigned, I reached out to those CEFs to thank them for their contributions. I also hope to meet with each CEF, as a follow-up,” Haynes said.

She added, “I very much appreciate their contributions and their engagement in the community.”

The CEFs who resigned on Monday declined to comment for this article.

Corrections (Feb. 20, 2020): This article has been corrected to display that members of the Davis Center CEF team resigned on Monday, not Tuesday. The third paragraph of the article has also been amended to make clear that CEFs were not solely hosting workshops, but rather attended workshops as part of their training learning about facilitating future workshops. We deeply regret these errors.