On Oct. 20, the Office of Inclusive Excellence Student Success and Leadership Development (IESSLD) opened its doors in Driscoll Underground. The office is a branch of DU’s Center for Multicultural Excellence (CME) and is focused specifically on engaging with undergraduate students on the topic of inclusive excellence.

According to Tracey Adams-Peters, the director of IESSLD, the decision to open the office in a central area of campus was very calculated.

“About two years ago, we proposed bringing undergraduate support centrally located in the campus. It was part of a push to be more intentional about incorporating inclusive excellence,” said Adams-Peters. “Just being in a place where students frequent, whether it’s passing over the bridge or going to academic advising on the other side or coming in to go eat at Subway, they’re very close. It’s easy to come and drop in. The intention was to make the underground space a lot more accessible and a lot more student friendly.”

The space was previously used by Sodexo, first as a cafeteria and more recently as a food preparation area for the pub that  occupied Subway’s current space. The office was originally slated to open last school year, but due to complications the opening date was moved back several times. Construction began on the area on Sept. 14.

The opening coincided with other changes to the north side of Driscoll Underground. Over the summer, the Office of Student Engagement and the DU Programming Board (DUPB) moved into the student media space, while the Clarion took over DUPB’s old office.

Though this branch of the CME existed before the opening of the new office, it is now under the new Division of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence, headed by the new vice chancellor for that area, Liliana Rodriguez. The main office of the CME is still located in its original location at 1981 S. University Blvd. and there are no current plans for the location to be moved.

According to Adams-Peters, the opening of the new office is accompanied by several changes to the IESSLD’s programming and to the CME in general.

“We’re going to have several new programs that they’ve introduced this year in anticipation of the move. The biggest one is CRIMSON, our inclusive excellence leadership experience,” said Adams-Peters. “The other is that we have an outdoor leadership program. That was very intentional looking at students who do not typically have access to the outdoors and may actually not want to go in the outdoors.”

Going forward, the IESSLD hopes to become a more integral part of campus life by providing programs and resources for students from every background. 

“Our goal is to continue to fully integrate the inclusive excellence mindset and  framework [and] to start to help our students realize that their potential is more than just any one area but being inclusive, being a part of a large community is really important,” said Adams-Peters. “I want to be intentional about students understanding that this office is for everyone. It’s not for a certain demographic of student, it’s not for a certain identity. We want to make sure that it’s synonymous that when you graduate from the University of Denver, being inclusive and being excellent is what it means to be a DU pioneer.”

More information about the IESSLD can be found on the CME’s website.