Creative Approach

Yes! Please help us tell stories that include diverse voices, amplify diverse stories, and empower underrepresented minorities to share their experiences. That being said, it is also important to be aware of over-representation. St. Olaf remains a predominantly white institution, and we want you to avoid misleading your audience or reflecting a percentage of diversity that feels inauthentic or exaggerated.

We know that our partners never intend to tokenize underrepresented communities. However, it can be very easy to fall into a pattern of seeing diversity as something to check off an imaginary list when putting together marketing materials. This can lead to tokenizing and over-representation. We care about finding the right way to tell our stories in an inclusive manner, and we want you to develop your strategy with that mindset from the start. Our partners should work on developing a process that includes these conversations along each step of the way. If you do, your images won’t be the only element that reflect diversity, and tokenizing is less likely to occur.

It is important for our partners to recognize that we all carry biases with us. Sometimes we may not be aware of their presence and we might need help or feedback from other members of our institution to identify and understand them more clearly. As our community grows in diversity, we want to make an effort to accept that there’s more potential for cultural blindspots to appear. When selecting an image, make sure you ask questions that connect your content to the person’s identity — including, but not limited to, nationality, culture, race, and gender identity. It’s important to consider that in certain cases you might be unaware of a connection to a stereotype. Including captions and requesting permission from the people featured in the image is a great way to prevent unintended outcomes.

Things change, people change, and conversations surrounding DEI can evolve quickly. The academic calendar can make it easy for us to fall into a repetitive cycle and apply older processes to projects that may need to be revised and updated. It is crucial to constantly audit your work to ensure that your marketing materials never feel outdated.