GTC receives major diversity award for the third year in a row and the fourth time overall

Greenville Technical College (GTC) has received the 2019 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This year, GTC joins 92 other recipients nationwide. Only three colleges in South Carolina were recognized this year – Greenville Technical College, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina. Only seven community colleges were honored.

Since the award was established in 2012, a total of approximately 340 colleges, universities, and law schools including ivy league institutions have been honored, some multiple times. Greenville Technical College first received the HEED award in 2014 and was recognized again in 2017 and 2018, making this the fourth time the institution has been named a HEED award recipient. 

“Being honored once again indicates that we have made substantial progress regarding diversity and inclusion,” said Dr. Keith Miller, president of Greenville Technical College. “Our effort to create a welcoming environment will continue to be integrated into every level of operation and will be central to everything the college plans and achieves.”

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected Greenville Technical College for the efforts the college is making to recruit, support, and graduate historically underrepresented groups, including first-generation students. Other accomplishments leading to the award include efforts to increase the diversity of faculty and staff, efforts to draw from a diverse base of vendors, a civility training program offered to all employees every other year, multicultural branding and communication techniques, and programs that lead to cultural competence for graduates as they prepare to become part of a global workforce.

“The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”