I came into the role as The State Hornet’s very first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion editor with one big goal in mind: to have stories focused on or centering underrepresented communities take up more than half of our content. I am proud to announce that we met our goal, with every section having more than half of content focused on or centering underrepresented communities. 

Overall, the section that improved the most was video with over 71% of content about underrepresented communities. We can attribute this increase to the work of Chrissy Martinez, a member of our DEI team who primarily focused on video. Martinez did a fabulous job this semester, and we’re excited to see what she does in her upcoming career. 

Podcast was a close second with 67%, news with 66%, sports with 59% and arts & entertainment with 54%. 

Last semester, our numbers were slim with 43% from podcasts, 39% from news, 32% from arts & entertainment, 31% from video, 30% from sports and 29% from opinion.

Everything in DEI was a collaboration, and I know our publication could have never met our goals without teamwork. Often DEI stories would overlap with other sections or each beat had a story that truly showcased the diversity at Sacramento State. My job was doable thanks to my fellow editors and team of staffers. Meeting our goal is not only a victory for DEI, but for the entire State Hornet. 

Our final audit in full can be seen here:

I am also proud to announce that our incoming DEI editor will be Keyshawn Davis, who served as our section beat writer focused on Black communities on campus. Davis also contributed to this audit and put his goals for the spring.

Coming from a background in sports, Davis plans to launch a diversity initiative within that section. He also plans to improve our coverage on Asian American, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+ and disabled communities. Having worked closely with Davis this semester and seeing his hard work and grit shine, I have no doubt he will continue to bring greatness to DEI.

The State Hornet also launched coverage for Hispanic Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month. As a Native journalist, I was honored to have led several stories on our campus’ Indigenous community. The State Hornet this fall had more and improved coverage on our campus’ Indigenous community than ever before.  

While The State Hornet does celebrate our achievements, we must also take accountability for missed opportunities. Going into the semester, our section had the goal of increasing and improving our coverage on our AAPI community and disabled communities. In the spring, we hope to increase content and do justice by these communities. 

The State Hornet hopes to also improve our coverage focusing on individual student communities, like Ensuring Native Indian Traditions and Black Student Union. At the end of the day, students are our audience, and it would be a disservice to them and our values altogether to leave them out of coverage. 

I often say that I went into journalism because I’m too angry at the world to stay quiet. In a time of nationwide reckoning with diversity, this role gave The State Hornet the platform to truly make a difference at Sac State. From coverage that held administration accountable to the stories that directly speak to students’ experiences, I am honored to have served as your first DEI editor, my dear reader. 

Keyshawn Davis contributed this story through the fall 2021 audit report.