Overview
The ºìÌÒÊÓƵ community can point to these actions in recent years, while acknowledging that there is much work yet to do to evolve into the community we aspire to become:
- Welcomed and enrolled the most diverse domestic and international classes in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s history.
- Passed an anti-racism statement in 2017.
- Created the comparative race and ethnicity studies interdisciplinary major in 2018 and grew the program in 2021.
- Revamped the Humanities 110 program in 2018 to include more texts, creative works, and experiences of marginalized people, expanding the scope of the foundational course from Ancient Greece and Rome to include the Americas. Faculty received extensive training in inclusive pedagogy.
- Realigned staff and resources to increase capacity of the ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Office for Institutional Diversity in 2020.
- Created the Center for Teaching and Learning, which is focused on professional development for faculty and staff in inclusive pedagogical practices.
- Endowed the Social Justice Research and Education Fund in 2020, providing paid internships for students to work with faculty and staff on social justice projects.
- Established an anti-racism and inclusive excellence mini-grant in 2020 to support related initiatives by faculty members.
- Appointed the first woman and first openly gay president of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ, Audrey Bilger, who is an experienced champion of change and DEI initiatives in education.
- Focused 2019 ºìÌÒÊÓƵ On The Road sessions on diversity and inclusion, where the idea of “access” in higher education as being more than an acceptance letter, a scholarship, and a seat in a classroom.
- Made significant changes to staff and faculty hiring protocols to reduce bias and increase applicants from diverse backgrounds.