History

In the Summer of 1993, Lesley University received a generous grant from a private donor to promote diversity and multicultural education. The Lesley University Diversity Council was formed with these funds. At the heart of the Diversity Council is the goal to create a campus living and learning environment to prepare Lesley students to become positive forces for diversity in their professional lives and within their communities.

Lesley University President Margaret McKenna appointed Sam Turner, the Special Assistant to the President for Affirmative Action, to coordinate The Diversity Council and promote strong campus-wide support. An executive committee composed of staff, faculty, and administrators, combined with the chairs of six action committees form the steering committee that has developed the desired outcomes and action plans for The Diversity Council. Each committee is designed to focus on specific needs within the community such as recruitment and retention, curriculum and instruction, institutional assessment, quality of life, diversity training and development, and student diversity issues. Through this structure, the mission of The Diversity Council is implemented.

In 1995, The Diversity Council contracted a private consulting firm to conduct an institution-wide culture audit. This cultural audit included reviewing recruitment and retention documents and statistics, holding discussions with focus groups from all areas of the community as well as conducting personal interviews. The outcomes of this audit have helped us to clearly see where we are around issues of diversity and what further efforts are needed.

To directly reach Lesley students, the Diversity Council is committed to examining our curriculum. Since the Summer of 1994, Lesley has offered curriculum development workshops and stipends for faculty to revise or create courses and curricula that incorporate diverse and multicultural perspectives. Particular attention is being paid to pedagogy, assessment, and attitudinal change. By reforming the curriculum, Lesley is helping prospective teachers, human service professionals and managers become more aware and effective in our increasingly diverse world.

In efforts to affect change within the culture of the Lesley community, The Diversity Council has offered several workshops to core and adjunct faculty, staff and administration. These workshops have explored such topics as claiming our cultural identity, exploring cultural patterns in the workplace and hiring practices, managing with a diverse perspective, and creating a multicultural environment. Future workshops will include conflict exploration and diversity training for our Senior Staff.

One of the obvious ways that any community can create immediate, tangible change is to examine and revise policy. In October 1996, after a year of research and discussion, Lesley University announced a new Spousal Equivalency Policy. This policy seeks to promote equity related to sexual orientation by acknowledging same-sex relationships and offering equal health, dental and tuition remission benefits.

Lesley has made recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, administration and students of color a priority. A 1994 study at Lesley shows that people of color made up 17% of all Lesley employees compared to 5% in 1987. Undergraduate students of color have also increased dramatically from 7.5% in 1987 to 15.9% in 1994. These figures clearly reflect our success and persistent commitment toward creating an ethnically diverse community.

In their on-going meetings, the six committees generate ideas and action plans to carry out the work of the Diversity Council. Projects being developed include: compiling a film library that reflects multicultural perspectives, training of trainers to lead workshops on multicultural and diversity awareness, examining accessibility to the University for people using wheelchairs, and expanding diversity training for adjunct faculty and diversity training for new employees.

The Diversity Council is striving to ensure that Lesley University reflects the increasing multiculturalism of this country. As a result, Lesley University is becoming a safer, more inviting community not only for people of color, but for people of all cultures, lifestyles, and abilities.

The office of Urban Initiatives provides program support to assist the Diversity Council.

(additional information on the Diversity Initiative)