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PRINCIPLES
Diversity is the multiplicity of people, cultures and ideas that contribute to the richness and variety of life. Diversity broadly encompasses the mixture of similarities and differences along several dimensions: race, national origin, ability, religion, sexual orientation, age and gender. It includes values, cultures, concepts, learning styles and perceptions that individuals possess. By its very nature, diversity fosters inclusiveness, encourages the exchange of new ideas, improves decision-making, and broadens the scope of problem solving.
Diversity in all its dimensions must be valued. Where there is diversity, there is evidence of openness, emergence of inclusiveness, and a respect and appreciation for differences. Where diversity exists, there is indeed an enriched environment.
Diversity is about creating an equitable, hospitable, appreciative, safe and inclusive campus environment - one that embraces the full spectrum of all community members' contributions. We must respond with effort and vigor to issues of diversity. We commit ourselves to enhancing the quality of experience for all members of the University community by enhancing our diversity.
We do so because:
• Diversity strengthens the academic quality of the University,
• Diversity is the right way to serve an increasingly heterogeneous society,
• Diversity keeps faith with the open-access dreams of those who founded the University of Nebraska,
• Diversity contributes to the redress of historical inequities that continue to plague our nations,
• Diversity addresses our legal obligations, and
• Diversity is crucial to our ability to educate our students for the twenty-first century.
On February 4, 1998, the American Council on Education released a statement affirming the educational value of diversity. The statement has been endorsed by a number of education associations from the American Association of University Professors to the Council of Graduate Schools and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln joins in endorsing this statement, since it mirrors our own beliefs in why we are committed to achieving diversity among faculty, staff and students.
A campus community composed of faculty, students and staff of diverse cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds makes the University of Nebraska both more exciting and more complex. To attain this diverse campus, we must identify ways and means to institute our principles.
Our goals speak to the need to recruit and retain a truly diverse community of faculty, students and staff and to create an environment supportive of such a community.
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