Leaders of Montana State University’s Black Student Union, student organizations representing students of color, and select members of MSU administration worked together From June through November of 2020 to draft a working plan for addressing the needs and concerns of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students at MSU. The process of drafting this plan included delving into specific student challenges, consulting with key campus partners and collaborators to identify barriers and opportunities, exchanging ideas with many individuals, student organizations, and campus groups, and drafting goals and actions that would capture the energy and intentions of the university community. These drafted actions have been shared with university leaders who are members of Leadership Council. 

Throughout the Spring 2021 semester, a team selected priority actions from this draft plan, outlined the implementation phase of working on the selected priorities, and progress on those priorities continues. 

Please note that the information below is a draft of the original document and does not indicate a final plan. 

Core Challenges

For more information on each core challenge, please click the links below.

  • Core Challenge #1 - Educational and professional development opportunities related to Black/African* identity and history are needed both in and out of the classroom. 
  • Core Challenge #2 - Increased faculty and staff support and additional student-support resources are needed for Black/African/BIPOC students. 
  • Core Challenge #3 -Efforts are needed to address the safety and belonging of BIPOC students in campus spaces.
  • Core Challenge #4 - At MSU, there are disparities in enrollment, retention, and graduation amongst BIPOC students as compared to the general student population. As MSU is a research institution with access to data, the challenge is to utilize existing data to inform policy and strategies to increase BIPOC student enrollment, retention, and graduation rates.