Investing in diversity
OUR UD | The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is committing $1 million to develop robust initiatives to improve diversity, Dean George Watson announced earlier this spring.
“We have to move to action, and a lot of times, action takes dollars,” Watson said, adding that the funding will be a recurring expenditure, not a one-time allocation. “This is a major commitment, but diversity is important to us. It should be the cornerstone of our college’s contributions.”
One initiative will be the development of a diversity assessment and a robust plan of action to support the University’s goals in such areas as the recruitment of faculty and graduate students and the appointment and empowerment of diversity advocates.
Watson said the goal of the new commitment is to act as a driver to address the longstanding challenge of diversity on campus, particularly as it relates to race and ethnicity.
He noted that the social sciences, a key area of strength for CAS, emphasize the importance of analyzing issues through frameworks of action, including how social justice, public service, cultural understanding, well-being and unique methods for analyzing social attitudes and behavior provide an effective lens for understanding diversity in a constantly changing world.
“We need to rethink our priorities and start paying closer attention to understanding cultural differences, promoting culturally diverse experiences and exposing students, faculty and staff to others with diverse backgrounds, so that when students come to UD, and when they later graduate, they have developed into global citizens ready to make a difference in the world,” Watson said.
