We aspire to be a community where all members thrive: where they feel a sense of belonging and being valued; where they can access the wide range of learning and growth opportunities the college offers; where they are heard and respected; where they engage in meaningful dialogue about a wide range of issues; and where they live and work in safe, welcoming, and comfortable spaces. These aspirations are based upon an understanding that in higher education, diversity, equity, and inclusion are inextricably linked to excellence.
Excerpted above, Williams College’s 2020 DEI Working Group Plan recommends all units – administrative and academic -develop a DEI plan. This is an opportunity for every sector of campus to reflect on and align itself with the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Additionally, the process will help each unit identify opportunities for advancing those principles and challenges to achieving that alignment.
Williams College, like our larger society, must reckon with and address its history of oppression. Reflecting on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion allows us to confront that history and propels us to a more inclusive future. These issues affect us all in different ways and in different contexts, and touch both our work and our interactions with one another.
A DEI plan is an opportunity for each of our units individually and the institution collectively to articulate and highlight current work happening to foster an environment of greater inclusion and respect, to develop goals for a more equitable future, and to work together as a community to uphold our values and vision. We are not there yet. You help us to move forward. Thinking through these important issues requires everyone’s participation. [/expando]
DEI Planning- Additional Thoughts Form
Please use this form to share your thoughts. If you were not able to attend your unit’s meeting with us, if you have afterthoughts, or if there is anything you did not share in the meeting setting, we want to hear from you! Your responses will help inform your unit’s DEI planning.