UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ sent this message to the campus community late yesterday:
Dear Students, Staff and Faculty,
One of my most important goals for Berkeley is to advance and expand diversity on this campus, in its broadest sense and in every form.
Today, I am writing to announce our launch of the first wave of new, accelerated efforts in this arena. Work is now underway on a comprehensive Undergraduate Student Diversity Project, and we soon will present funding proposals for new programs to potential donors who share our values and objectives. After the new year begins, I expect to share information about similar plans to support and expand diversity among our faculty, staff and graduate student populations.
As these critical and exciting initiatives begin, I want to provide you with my perspective on the values, commitments and objectives that will guide our efforts, preview our proposals and plans for the road ahead and invite the campus community to weigh in about this essential work and to join the effort.
The Case for Diversity
I believe that the excellence of our university depends on diversity of thought and perspective, both of which are the result of, and profoundly enhanced by, the diversity of our campus community. Our mission and institutional character — in research, teaching and public service —demand that we embrace, embody and protect diversity of every kind, including, but not limited to, race and ethnicity, disability, intellectual interest, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographical origin and religious and ideological beliefs.
Diversity advances our educational goals, prepares our students to thrive in a multicultural world and ensures we meet our representative responsibilities as a leading public institution in California — one of the most diverse states in the country. For these reasons, much of our present and future effort must focus on the campus’s demographic makeup.
Yet, having a truly diverse campus community is insufficient and unsustainable absent a supportive, welcoming and respectful campus culture that creates and sustains a sense of belonging and connection for all. Inclusion, and what I call “equity of experience,” ensure that we each have — regardless of our origins, abilities, beliefs or identities — the support and freedom necessary to achieve our academic and professional goals. We must strengthen our existing efforts to improve campus climate for historically underrepresented and marginalized students, staff and faculty and implement new initiatives so that Berkeley will be a place where all can thrive and realize their full potential.