History of IBIC

History

Prior to the existence of the Office for Inclusion, Belonging, and Intergroup Communication, Stanford University used to facilitate diversity-and-inclusion related conversations through its Psych series, specifically Psych 103, Intergroup Communication. While the course went on hiatus for a few years, a student alumni returned to revitalize the class and continue offering for future students. In addition to Psych 103, the student alumni began to build responsibilities and eventually craft a role to provide human capital consulting, especially related to diversity and first-generation work, directly on Stanford’s campus. This work and advocacy for these groups had brought life to what was originally known as the Diversity and First-Gen or Low-Income Office, fondly known as DGen, in 2014. 

From the launch of DGen, much of the work continued in classroom and consulting experiences as well as supporting the first-generation and/or low-income student community on campus. While DGen grew more popular and eventually became more well-funded, the office split into two sub-offices to continue providing more catered, specialized resources to support inclusion, equity and belonging for communities at Stanford. 

In 2018, DGen officially split into what is now, the FLI Student Success Center and the IBIC Office (Inclusion, Belonging and Intergroup Communication).

These two offices continue to support Stanford’s campus and the mission to make the Stanford student body a community that flourishes and explores the beauty of diversity. The IBIC Office has continued to expand to provide additional resources, creating brave spaces and experiential activities to continue facilitating conversations across difference. The IBIC Office’s programming has expanded to many of the resources available today.