Changes to laws, regulations around DEI require recalibration

The AVMA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Summit took place November 7-9, 2024, in Atlanta, just two days after Election Day, ushering in a new presidential administration. Since then, organizers have been intentional about keeping up the momentum from the meeting while also strategically recalibrating their approach.

Latonia Craig, EdD, AVMA chief of veterinary engagement and belonging, said for one thing, “we’re learning as (diversity, equity, and inclusion) practitioners that we could have been better, overall as a field, at explaining why this work is important.”

She said future efforts will involve greater use of data to strengthen the case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and more intention with their goals around belonging, engagement, and psychological safety in the workplace and classroom.

Craig and Lisa Greenhill, EdD, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) chief organizational health officer, addressed current issues surrounding DEI on July 19 during the session, “Beyond the Summit: What Progress Requires Now in Veterinary Medicine” at AVMA Convention 2025 and the 40th World Veterinary Association Congress in Washington, D.C.

“Our commitment is unwavering, but it will look a little different. That is the nature of the beast. We have to continue to evolve with the challenges to meet them, right? The same stuff isn’t going to work,” Greenhill said, adding that research and solutions in these areas must be diverse, multimodal, and meet the needs of various populations.

Recent changes

One of the recent challenges Greenhill mentioned was federal executive orders and resulting institutional decisions regarding DEI. In January, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The order directs the federal government to end race- or sex-based preferences labeled as DEI, and ties federal grants and contracts to certifying compliance with anti-discrimination law. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education is ordered to bolster enforcement within the educational system, from preschools to universities nationwide.

To help veterinary colleges and schools avoid potential conflicts, the AVMA Council on Education (COE), which is functionally autonomous from the AVMA, announced it will no longer require programs to report on, nor comply with, its current Standards of Accreditation that relate to DEI.

Greenhill said, “There’s been a lot of emotion around the language and the interpretation that it’s been stripped from the COE accreditation standards and for the colleges of veterinary medicine here and abroad, and that’s not exactly the story, right?”

She explained that the standards, which have always had the provision “where state and federal law apply,” may no longer have DEI-specific language, but use other words instead, such as belonging. Greenhill also pointed out that even before the executive order, 16 veterinary colleges were in states that prohibited DEI-related activities and reporting.

“I think that a lot of folks just had no idea what was happening at a more local level beforehand, and so those schools are still trying to do the work. It just is going to look different,” she said.

Craig and Greenhill said, for similar reasons, they changed their titles. Craig previously was AVMA’s chief DEI officer until April, and Greenhill had the title of senior director for institutional research and diversity at AAVMC until February.

They explained that because of state and federal laws, veterinary colleges, especially those in more restrictive areas, would not be allowed to access their programming or advertise their speaking engagements if they had kept their titles.

Systems thinking

Both agreed that there is misinformation about the term DEI and its meaning. Often, the term will shut down conversations before they even begin. So, to reach more people, they are focusing on education around belonging, engagement, and psychological safety in the workplace and classroom.

Craig says an organization may have people who do not feel valued, seen, or considered in decision making or otherwise, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds.

“If people feel like they belong, then they will be more engaged and want to be more involved,” she said.

Addressing these issues can help with retention, which not only helps the individuals, but also the businesses’ bottom line. The first step, she says, is establishing psychological safety among employees.

“A lot of times we think we know what things are, like what psychological safety means, but the whole discussion has morphed into ‘We have an anonymous comment box, so that’s safe right?’ No, folks need freedom and safety to give constructive feedback,” Greenhill said. “The box is not evidence of psychologically safe environment. In fact, it could be the opposite.”

She says the AAVMC is putting together a webinar on psychological safety.

Greenhill and Elisabeth Cavallaro, manager for wellbeing and professional competencies for AAVMC, have already created the “Introduction to Systemic Wellbeing Course,” which provides campus leaders with the foundational tools and knowledge to build a sustainable, systemic wellbeing program at their college on systems thinking.

Part of systems-level thinking means having hard conversations that people tend to ignore or dismiss, Craig said. A climate assessment can help with those discussions, particularly among leadership. This process helps gauge employee perceptions and attitudes about their work environment and assists leaders in understanding the overall atmosphere, identify areas for improvement, and ultimately foster a more positive and productive workplace.

“Folks are burnt out. They’re dealing with not only things that are happening on the outside and personal circumstances, but they’re also dealing with difficult clients” and other work issues, Craig said. “And so a part of our work that we’re looking to do is looking at the whole person. We want to be able to figure out ways to bring evidence-based practices to recognize all of that and give people space in those rooms.

“Because we have mothers, fathers, and caregivers who are also holding the title of veterinary technician, veterinarian, and veterinary assistant who are trying to do all of that work and feeling lost in that process.”

A version of this story appears in the October 2025 print issue of JAVMA