The Race, Bias, and Equity Initiative (RBEI) at Colorado State University was announced by former President Joyce McConnell in September 2019. RBEI was originally led by three co-chairs from the President’s Executive Leadership Team: Mary Ontiveros, then-Vice President for Diversity; Blanche Hughes, Vice President for Student Affairs; and then-Provost and Executive Vice President Mary Pedersen.  RBEI had representatives from across the University who came together to better connect equity, diversity, and inclusion work at CSU.

RBEI successfully contributed to and/or funded several initiatives on campus including:

Pronoun Initiative

First Generation Initiative

Race and Intersectional Studies in Educational Equity (RISE)

RBEI was sunsetted in June 2021. This important work is continued by the Equity and Inclusion Network, which was developed as a place for CSU employees with specific roles in diversity and inclusion to share resources, best practices, and partner to develop university recommendations to advance DEI at CSU.