Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the Mount

With the Dominican Pillars of study, spirituality, service, and community as our guide, Mount Saint Mary College is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on our campus and in our local communities. Everyone who works, studies at, or visits our campus deserves respect and the opportunity to be seen and heard. We strive to do what is right, just, and best for all.

The benefits of DEI are far-ranging, allowing our community to be fully engaged, to understand some of the challenges that exist, and to become aware of our own personal blindspots.

DEI Definitions

Diversity - Individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, physical or cognitive abilities, as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations) that can be engaged in the service of learning.

Equity - Creating opportunities for equal access and success for historically underrepresented populations, such as racial and ethnic minority and low-income students, in three main areas:

• Representational equity: the proportional participation at all levels of an institution
• Resource equity: the distribution of educational resources in order to close equity gaps
• Equity-mindedness: the demonstration of an awareness of and willingness to address equity issues among institutional leaders and staff

Inclusion - The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity - in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical). This engagement with diversity has the potential to increase one's awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions.

Definitions are from the NERCHE Self-Assessment for the Institutionalization of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in Higher Education.