The LAS Diversity Committee will advise the Dean on the full range of diversity issues confronted by the College. These include issues related to the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty, staff, and student population; the quality of the college and university environments for diverse populations, and the appropriateness of the curriculum in providing students with the necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills to function as global citizens. Beyond identifying issues, the Committee is charged with making concrete recommendations for change aimed at enhancing diversity in the College. The LAS Diversity Committee is also asked to coordinate with its university counterpart and to advise the Dean regarding recommendations from the university committee and their implementation.
A listing of LAS Diversity Committee members can be found on the LAS College Committees page.
Commitment to Diversity
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences appointed a Diversity Committee in 2003 to review college policies on diversity and recommend future action. The committee later produced a report entitled “A Clear, Accountable Commitment to Diversity.” The report affirms the college’s commitment to diversity as a core value. In addition, the report lays out a series of recommendations for the college.
As a college committed to learning and discovery, we engage the entire campus community on issues that help shape the thinking of this nation and the world. We teach those courses whose curricular content naturally address issues of diversity and underrepresented groups. We lead the discussion on topics that celebrate, explain, and respect human differences and similarities.
As the largest college on this campus, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has a special obligation and a moral imperative to be the institution’s leader in engaging students, faculty and staff, and the community on the importance of diversity in all respects. This college accepts the challenge and responsibility to promote diversity at every level.
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences administration’s Diversity Committee advises the dean on the full range of diversity issues confronted by the college. These include issues related to the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty, staff, and student population, the quality of the college and university environments for diverse populations, and the appropriateness of the curriculum in providing students with the necessary knowledge and skills to function as global citizens. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Diversity Committee will also be asked to coordinate with its university counterpart and to advise the dean regarding recommendations from the university committee.
Diversity Definition
“Diversity” means more than just acknowledging and/or tolerating difference. Diversity is a set of conscious practices that involve:
- Understanding and appreciating interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural environment.
- Practicing mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from our own.
- Understanding that diversity includes not only ways of being but also ways of knowing.
- Recognizing that personal, cultural and institutionalized discrimination creates and sustains privileges for some while creating and sustaining disadvantages for others.
- Building alliances across differences so that we can work together to eradicate all forms of discrimination.
Diversity includes, therefore, knowing how to relate to those qualities and conditions that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet are present in other individuals and groups. These include but are not limited to age, ethnicity, class, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, as well as religious status, gender expression, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, and work experiences. Finally, we acknowledge that categories of difference are not always fixed but also can be fluid, we respect individual rights to self-identification, and we recognize that no one culture is intrinsically superior to another.
Other Diversity Resources: