Six months after Northeastern rebranded the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the Office of Belonging and Engagement, at least four Office of Belonging staff members no longer work at the university, according to emails reviewed by The Huntington News.
The university declined to confirm whether the positions had been eliminated. When asked whether new positions would be added, the university directed The News to a September 2024 memo sent following Richard O’Bryant’s appointment as chief inclusion and belonging officer, now chief belonging officer.
“In accordance with longstanding university policy, we do not comment on specific personnel matters,” Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul wrote in a statement to The News. “More broadly, as communicated in our September 2024 announcement of Richard O’Bryant as Chief Inclusion and Belonging Officer, we are committed to cultivating a climate of belonging at Northeastern. We’ve implemented a more decentralized approach, which places more responsibility within the colleges and at our 13 campus locations.”
People in at least four positions at the Office of Belonging appear to have left the university. They include Cecilia Akuffo, the director of communications for the Office of Belonging; Christine McDade, the executive assistant to the chief of belonging; Rosa Rodriguez Williams, the executive director of the Office of Belonging; and Lisa Susser, the manager of belonging. Melissa Berry-Woods, the director of belonging, has also had her staff page removed from the College of Social Sciences and Humanities website, which had been live as recently as July 22.
When The News attempted to contact the staff members’ Northeastern email addresses, an identical automated response was received, with the exception of Berry-Woods.
“Thank you for contacting the Office of Belonging, we look forward to connecting with you. The employee you have contacted is no longer with Northeastern University,” the email reads. “Please direct all inquiries for the Office of Belonging to Richard O’Bryant, Chief Belonging Officer.”
O’Bryant did not respond to a request for comment.
Northeastern’s changing belonging landscape has reached individual colleges, which have their own full-time Belonging leads. In June, the College of Science, or COS, eliminated its associate director of belonging and engagement, a position held by Marya Mahmood for the past two years.
“This is not an easy goodbye,” Mahmood wrote of their role’s elimination in an Aug. 1 COS Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice newsletter. “Over the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside so many of you! Students, staff and faculty who care deeply about creating a more inclusive and equitable campus culture.”
In response to request for comment, Mahmood directed The News to their newsletter.
Before the Aug. 1 newsletter was sent to the COS students and staff, university community members pushed back on the position being cut. The Northeastern Justice Coalition, which describes itself as a “students, staff and faculty coalition dedicated to justice at Northeastern,” authored a letter imploring Northeastern to retain Mahmood and collected testimonials from community members about them, which were published in an open letter in July.
“During their two year tenure at the College of Science, Marya piloted an astounding one hundred programs and initiatives, spanning eight colleges, institutes and centers at Northeastern, as well as dozens of other partnerships,” reads the open letter, which the coalition sent to several university leaders, including President Joseph E. Aoun. “These programs were attended by more than 1400 people — students, staff and faculty. Marya’s work on equity and inclusion has transformed the COS landscape as they have mentored scholars, partnered with numerous external organizations and provided over one hundred 1:1 [equity, diversity, inclusion and justice] consultations.”
When asked why Mahmood’s position was eliminated, a Northeastern spokesperson wrote that “in accordance with longstanding university policy, we do not comment on personnel matters.”
Changes to what was formerly the university’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion came soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that ordered universities dismantle DEI programs or face funding cuts and federal investigations. By Jan. 28, Northeastern began removing mentions of DEI on its websites and social media accounts, replacing it with language centered around “belonging.”
But the changes to the structure of the office had been underway before Trump won the White House, Northeastern Senior Vice President for External Affairs Mike Armini told The News in a May interview.
“So the organization changed, there’s no doubt about that,” Armini said of the rebranded Office of Belonging. “And obviously the name changed. And again, those were things that we were thinking about for a long time. And I think, in general, the principles remain. The one thing I would say is we have to comply with the law, and that has changed a little bit.”
The September 2024 memo about O’Bryant’s appointment, signed by Chancellor Ken Henderson and then-Provost David Madigan, described part of O’Bryant’s job as “develop[ing] a vision and plan for inclusion and belonging.” (When he assumed the position, the role was titled “chief inclusion and belonging officer.”) Before O’Bryant took his post, Karl Reid was Northeastern’s first-ever chief inclusion officer. Reid held the role for three years before taking a similar job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he has since stepped down from.
In January, the language change from DEI to “belonging” swiftly caught the attention of the Northeastern community and sparked intense debate among community members. Since the university published its “Belonging” webpage in late January, the content has remained largely unchanged.
On Jan. 30, Northeastern published its “Navigating a New Political Landscape” FAQ page, which became its central means for communicating during a semester marked by uncertainty. The same day, Northeastern addressed the heated debate surrounding belonging.
“Northeastern’s commitment to embracing our entire global community remains steadfast. While internal structures and approaches may be adjusted to ensure continued compliance with the law, the university’s core values don’t change,” the university wrote in the FAQ Jan. 30. (The university does not attribute updates to a university official or spokesperson.) “We believe that embracing our differences — and building a community of belonging — makes Northeastern stronger.”
