The College awarded Departmental Diversity Grants to the following projects during the 2017–2018 academic year: Aaron Ansell, an associate professor in the Department of Religion and Culture, partnership with the Department of History, the School of Visual Arts, and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for research and graduate student recruitment; Gena Chandler-Smith, an associate professor, and Virginia Fowler, a professor in the Department of English, partnership with Virginia HBCUs to build a mentoring network to support research and graduate student recruitment; Sukaina Hirji and Daniel Wodak, an assistant professors in the  Department of Philosophy, speaker series to advance diversity in the field of philosophy; Eunju Hwang, an assistant professor in the Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management, partnership with HBCUs for a research symposium, class projects, and other collaborations; and Annie Stevens, an assistant professor in the School of Performing Arts, funding for a visiting percussionist from Ghana.