AKRON, Ohio ― Businesses and institutions across the country are taking a closer look at their policies and procedures when it comes to racial discrimination. At the University of Akron, leaders are addressing racial inequalities through a number of efforts.

University President Gary Miller says the school is finding ways to provide higher education opportunities for more people of color. This month, the university created an Inclusive Excellence Action Team to focus on issues of race, equality and inclusion.

"Then we're going to intersect those with our task force, which is going to take a look at our internal processes and then start looking outward and asking ourselves the question, how can we do better here, you know, do we have policies and procedures in place that reinforce unconscious bias," said Miller.

Miller vows to fight racial discrimination on campus. One of the goals of the university's African American Male Initiative is to increase the number of Black males enrolling and successfully graduating.

"I think we also have the obligation to offer opportunities to people, you know, I think the more folks who can get an education, the better chance we have of resolving this challenge because, you know, racism is based on ignorance. We've got to, once we have students, be very intentional about it, but we also have to offer opportunities to many more students and we've actually changed our approach. We're trying to be an opportunity university rather than an admissions university," said Miller.

For more than a decade, the University of Akron has hosted annual events. Its two-day Black Male Summit encourages and celebrates Black male success. Rethinking Race is a two-week event, engaging people with topics such as diversity in the workplace and awareness of issues and culture.

Small steps that could lead to great change.

"I think this is a tragic opportunity, but it is an opportunity we have to seize. I think this is the moment."