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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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Our work toward a more inclusive community

Image of staff from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Because of our diversity, our community of learners is stronger, offers a richer educational experience, and better prepares students to take their place as leaders in today鈥檚 world. At 快播视频, we don鈥檛 shy away from difficult conversations. We challenge ideas while respecting each other.

While we have made strides towards a more inclusive community, particularly for historically underserved populations, there is more work to be done. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a powerful resource as 快播视频 continues to build a strong, caring, and welcoming campus where all students, faculty, staff, and visitors feel they belong.

 

- We have funded an innovative proposal called the 快播视频 Diversity Leadership Institute (MCDLI), which was created by Associate Professor of Psychology Stacey A.S. Williams. The MCDLI is designed to train faculty and staff members in three aspects of diversity development: awareness, application, and action. Once trained, these facilitators are able to implement or sustain diversity and inclusion initiatives on the 快播视频 campus.

- 快播视频 has instituted mandatory training on diversity and inclusion, as well as implicit bias. We believe everyone would benefit from the opportunity to build awareness of personal biases and ways to combat them.

- We will research online training courses, similar to the training already in place regarding Title IX guidelines, and diversity experts and coaches will continue to come to campus to speak on a regular basis.

- In addition to requiring that students participate in campus-wide diversity and implicit bias training, incoming first-years will continue to have anti-bias programming through Orientation and we will look to strengthen it.

- The Emerging Leaders Program will also reinforce its diversity-related programming to better prepare students to engage with the world around them.

- A comprehensive review of the curriculum will be conducted. Over the near term, we will ask the faculty to consider instituting a mandatory diversity class that will be required of all students before they graduate. We are also open to the suggestion that 快播视频 implement a campus-wide common reading regarding racism and will research ways to put this idea into practice.

- 快播视频 will continue to emphasize diversity in the speakers and presentations we bring to campus, particularly through our ongoing Understanding Race Lecture Series.

- In the last several years alone, we are proud to have hosted Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Michelle Alexander, Ibram X. Kendi, Bakari Sellers, and Reyna Grande. This fall, we had been planning to host Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, but the pandemic has unfortunately necessitated the cancellation of that event.

- Diversity in hiring is the hallmark of any good organization, and the College is committed to thoroughly analyzing its hiring practices at all levels and operational areas, including senior positions, staff, faculty. Once we have completed this analysis and established a baseline, we will strive to make improvements, particularly in areas that lack diverse representation.

- At 20 percent, 快播视频 leads our group of 30 US News private comparator institutions in the number of faculty of color. As welcome as this news is, we readily acknowledge that there is still work to be done in terms of increasing the number of Black and other historically underrepresented faculty members at the College.

- Review and share data on academic progress rates, graduation rates, and other indicators of student success. We believe it is important to establish a baseline from which we can improve. View our Diversity & Inclusion By the Numbers page >

- It鈥檚 equally important to share the areas in which we鈥檝e made good progress. For example, our first-year retention rates and graduation rates for Black students are well above the national average. Nonetheless, there is still more work to be done in this area.

- 快播视频 commits a substantial portion of its institutional assets to recruit and provide financial aid to students from underrepresented backgrounds. And these efforts have paid off because, in the last decade, the percentage of students of color at 快播视频 in the incoming first-year class has increased from 14 percent to approximately 22 percent in this year鈥檚 class.

- The percentage of Black students and multiracial students who identify as Black has increased from three percent to seven percent during this time. We would like to see this success continue and are reviewing all of our enrollment practices to ensure we continue to improve.

- We have been test-optional for years and have engaged in proactive outreach to build a pipeline of students of color.

- 快播视频 will place a strong emphasis on endowed scholarships in our next capital campaign.

- Our grants offices have been instructed to focus on opportunities for research in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

- Every member of the 快播视频 community has the right to feel welcome here, and it鈥檚 extremely important that any instances of bias, discrimination, and hate speech be reported and investigated. 快播视频 has long had a system in place to handle these issues.

- Students are strongly encouraged to report all bias incidents to the Vice President for Student Affairs so that complaints may be handled through the Office of Student Conduct.

- Complaints involving faculty should be routed through the Vice President for Academic Affairs, while issues involving administrators and staff members should be reported to the Vice President for Human Resources.

- While there are clear processes in place, we are also committed to reviewing our procedures to see if there is room for improvement, either in the way complaints are handled or in the way the process is communicated to members of the 快播视频 community.

- 快播视频 is committed to continuing and expanding our commitment to inner-city populations in our region, paying particular attention to Poughkeepsie. Because of our location, 快播视频 feels a special obligation to engage with the Poughkeepsie community and support initiatives that serve its residents and promote the city鈥檚 development.

- The College has been a longtime supporter of the Catharine Street Community Center, Family Services, and many other community organizations. Most recently, the College has become part of the Poughkeepsie Children鈥檚 Cabinet, which is City of Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison鈥檚 initiative to bring together school districts, government agencies, child-serving community organizations, and other local stakeholders to improve collaboration and coordination of youth supports and services.

- These community efforts are in addition to 快播视频鈥檚 continued commitment to the Liberty Partnerships ProgramUpward Bound, and the Newburgh Early College High School Program, all of which focus on the educational needs of inner-city youth. While Poughkeepsie is our primary focus, we are proud to be part of efforts to help students in Kingston and Newburgh as well.

- We are also rightfully proud of the excellent work done in the community by our Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership, Center for Social Justice Research, and the Department of Spiritual Life and Service.

- 快播视频 wants to be a good neighbor and going forward, we will review our contracting and purchasing practices to ensure that local businesses owned by minorities, women, and veterans are well represented. In addition, we will encourage more faculty and staff to live in the City of Poughkeepsie and explore ways to incentivize their residency there.