Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a great spring break. My name is Keyshawn Davis and this spring I’m the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion editor for the State Hornet. I’m the publication’s second DEI editor and I’m here to show everyone our progress thus far on covering underrepresented communities at Sacramento State. 

I’m excited to be in such a role after being a staff writer in the same section the previous semester. I understand how important it is to cover these communities, especially since The State Hornet has struggled to cover underrepresented communities on campus in previous semesters prior to the creation of DEI. We had a goal of getting more than 50% of our coverage to centered voices from underrepresented communities that I would love to continue. 

Part of my role as DEI editor is auditing The State Hornet’s coverage throughout the semester and leading a team of staffers that focus on covering diverse communities on campus. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion section this semester has centered stories around the Black, LGBTQ+ and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Every single section has improved from the last audit. Last semester, video was at 71%, podcast was a close second with 67%, news with 66%, sports with 59% and arts & entertainment with 54%. 

The numbers look good, but I think we can do better.

The two sections that improved the most was video and podcast with 100% in video and 96% in podcast. We can attribute this increase to the personality podcasts “Keys ‘N D Minor”, “Take Your Shot”, “Not Just a Fad” and” Breaking Down the Walls” which all have diverse hosts. Most of the videos are from the podcast section with the exception of an episode of “The State Hornet Broadcast”.

Meeting our goal is cool, but I think we can do better and get more stories from the disabled community, the Native American community, and the Hispanic/Latinx community. These numbers are positive, but I think we can do better.