Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University has a long-standing commitment to upholding the values of inclusive excellence. These views are defined in the University's Statement of Purpose, which makes it clear that Santa Clara is "a community enriched by women and men of diverse backgrounds, respectful of difference and enlivened by open dialogue, caring and justice towards others, and committed to broad participation in achieving the common good." (Santa Clara University's Statement of Purpose, approved by the SCU Board of Trustees, October 22, 1993). As Audre Lorde has instructed us, "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."

Inclusive Excellence involves an "active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity - in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, and geographical) with which individuals might connect in ways that increase one's awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions."

Advancing inclusive excellence is a campus-wide goal. Specific efforts to advance inclusive excellence reside within the portfolio of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the portfolio of the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources and the portfolio of the EEO/Diversity Director for the Office of Affirmative Action, among others.

Important initiatives within the Provost's Office include the establishment of the Provost's Council on Inclusive Excellence ("Council") in September 2007 by Provost Lucia Albino Gilbert and the Office for Multicultural Learning, which reports directly to the Provost as of September 2007. Both initiatives build on the university's concerted efforts in this important area.

The six-member Council, which the Provost chairs, has as its overarching goal making achieving inclusive excellence everyone's responsibility - students, staff, and faculty. Institutional changes come about through the actions of many, not just a few.

Members of the Council serve three-year renewable terms and devote approximately 20 percent of their time to the Council. The two exceptions are the Provost and the Director of the Office for Multicultural Learning who both have continuing appointments.

Areas of special attention during the next three years, and the Council member associated with each of these areas, include:

• Enhancing the ethnic diversity of our faculty (Al Hammond)
• Attracting a diverse undergraduate student body (Eva Blanco)
• Inreasing attention to multicultural learning within the curriculum (Drew Starbird)
• Further developing multicultural understanding and skills among the staff, faculty, and students working with first- and second-year students (Lester Deanes)
• Developing thematic event planning / campus programming that makes Santa Clara's diverse campus more visible and further fosters an inclusive University community (Mary Ho)

The members of the Council have established guiding principles as well as advisory councils to assist them in achieving the University's goals for inclusive excellence in their respective areas.

An Inclusive Excellence Student Advisory Council, formed at the end of Spring Quarter 2008, will assist the Provost's Council in achieving its goals. The Advisory Council is composed of student representatives from SCU graduate and undergraduate organizations that have elected representatives.