Text: Over 40 Years of Belonging and Growing Together, est. 2024 A History of CDI
Explore 40 years of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion  The Center for Diversity and Inclusion empowers students to excel academically and flourish as socially responsible members in a diverse world.

We provide opportunities, resources and advocacy in partnership with the greater Hope College community to promote a Christ-centered culture of equity and inclusion.

Vision

Our community will live and learn together authentically, compassionately and responsibly as influencers for positive social change in our increasingly diverse world.

Guiding Principles

Diversity, equity and inclusion are:

  • Inspired by the historic, ecumenical Christian faith and its call for love and justice
  • Grounded in the Virtues of Public Discourse (humility, hospitality, patience, courage and honesty)
  • Integral components of the Hope College experience for students, faculty and staff
  • Reflective of the dignity and worth of all human beings
  • Sources of enrichment and strength for our community
  • Nine students at the 2024 Student Leadership Conference pose smiling around a wooden picnic table in a sunny park. They are dressed casually, with some seated on benches and others standing. The setting includes pavement, grass, trees, a blue sky, and a small parking area with cars.
  • President Scogin and six students pose by a paletta cart at the Fall 2025 Tailgate. Outdoors on a sunny, grassy campus with large trees, most are smiling and wearing orange Hope College "Defend Orange and Blue" T-shirts. They stand next to a colorful ice cream cart, some holding red popsicles, with event banners and attendees visible behind them.
  • A large group of students from the 2023 Student of Color Leadership conference at DePauw University pose outdoors on campus in autumn. Arranged in rows, they are smiling at the camera, dressed in fall clothing. The background features trees with red and orange leaves, campus buildings, and a clear blue sky.
  • Step2Success Assistant Directors and Orientation Assistants, in casual orange and blue T-shirts, lean on a covered brick porch railing and smile in Fall 2024. A blue banner on the railing reads “Welcome Home!” with the Hope College logo.
  • Student at podium addresses a large, attentive audience during the Indigenous Peoples’ Lecture Fall 2025 in the Jack Miller Recital Hall. The venue features tiered seating, warm wood, curtains, and orange acoustic panels.
  • In Spring 2025, in the bright Jack Miller lobby, author Curtis Chin is signing copies of Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant at a long table. A line of students with backpacks waits to the left; one student smiles while holding the book. Other students chat quietly in line.
  • Seven students stand side-by-side, smiling indoors in 2024 for a panel in front of a screen reading, "Welcome to Step 2 Success: Belonging Together," featuring a footprint graphic and college logo. They are casually dressed with name badges in a wood-paneled Winants Auditorium.
  • Three barefoot students from Step2Success play a hula hoop game on a sandy beach at sunset in 2024. They hold hands as one concentrates on stepping through a bright pink hula hoop. The others walk alongside, smiling supportively. They are dressed casually, with a sky of soft pastel colors above the beach.
  • John Yelding, a professor, is at a wooden podium in Dimnent Chapel, delivering the 2024 Civil Rights Lecture. He is wearing a suit jacket, dress shirt, and patterned tie, speaking into a microphone. Behind him, tall stained-glass windows feature colorful geometric and cross-like designs. Two water bottles are on the podium in this formal setting.
  • 6 members of Women of Color United celebrate Women's History Month at the Kruizenga Art Museum (Spring 2023). They are gathered in a bright space with artwork and natural light, dressed in casual to business-casual attire, talking, smiling, and one holds a plate of food.
  • Two smiling students with microphones at the GLCA Student of Color Leadership Conference at Hope College, Fall 2024. They are on a stage under blue/purple lighting, speaking into handheld microphones. One student wears glasses and a light shirt; the other wears a sleeveless orange top.
  • Students playing Rock Paper Scissors at the Step2Success event in Tunnel Park Fall 2022. Young people stand in two facing lines on a grassy field, engaged in an icebreaker activity. One person gestures while smiling as others watch and laugh in a casual, park setting.

Diverse Perspectives Blog

  1. My Truth: Estherqueen Koomson

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Image Description: A woman with medium-length dark hair sits in an armchair, smiling in a white b...

    Read More

  2. My Truth: Kate Greif

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Image Description: A woman smiling directly toward the camera. The person has straight, ligh...

    Read More

  3. My Truth: Claudia Hwang

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Image Description: Smiling woman with long dark curls and glasses posing before a stained-glass w...

    Read More

  4. My Truth: Justin Egbuzie

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Image Description: Studio portrait of a smiling young man. He wears rectangular semi-rimless glas...

    Read More

  5. My Truth: Isabella Rodriguez

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Image Description: A woman with long dark brown hair and a relaxed smile stands indoors next to a...

    Read More

  6. Black History Month Lecture 2026

    Posted by Nicole Dykstra

    Dr. Derrick Bines, Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State Uni...

    Read More
Load More Posts

Visit us at the keppel house

We would love to have you visit us at the Keppel House.

Visit CDI at the Keppel House

Hope CollegeCenter for Diversity and Inclusion

Keppel House129 East 10th StreetHolland, MI 49423

workP. 616.395.6760

We need to cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community — and this nation.

Cesar Chavez