Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion excellence at Mount St. Mary’s University is a commitment the entire community makes to improve and sustain a culture of dignity and respect for everyone and where everyone knows they are a valued member of the team. When we truly embody the Catholic vision of the person, inclusion naturally follows. Catholic faith affirms that every human is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family, and that each and every person has inherent dignity and a right to a life consistent with that dignity.

All of us are called to live out the Mount value of inclusion: The Mount must harness the energy created by diversity of thought and engendered by a richly diverse staff, faculty and student body to ensure that all feel welcome and included. A diverse, equitable and inclusive Mount culture benefits our students, employees and faculty not only during their time here, but also after they leave the Mount as they will be prepared for success in an increasingly multicultural world. Our university mission, our promise to students, is to graduate ethical leaders who are inspired by a passion for learning and lead lives of significance in service to God and others. Diversity, equity and inclusion is about who we are and what we do.

The Office of Equity and Success promotes an institutional climate in which all members in the community understand their value and feel welcomed and respected. We seek a campus community that reflects the rich diversity of humanity with the full participation of people who represent the breadth of human differences. To guide us in such endeavors, the bishops of the United States wrote Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, which outlines seven principles of social justice in Catholic teaching. By following these principles, we have committed to live as people for others.

One way the Mount has made this commitment is through these underlying principles that guide Mount’s five-year Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategic plan developed by Mount’s Inclusive Excellence Committee (MIEC). We are committed to providing a diverse, equitable and inclusive learning and working environment because it enhances the educational experience for all.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) Making Excellence Inclusive framework guides our institutional diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Specific definitions for these terms are:

• Diversity: Individual differences and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, religion, class, gender, country of origin and ability as well as cultural, political, religious or other affiliations).
• Inclusion: The active, intentional and ongoing engagement with diversity—in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum and in communities in ways that increase students’ awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions.
• Equity: The creation of opportunities for historically underserved populations to have equal access to and participate in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion.

Making Excellence Inclusive is an active process at the Mount designed to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, personal development, institutional functioning, and engagement in local and global communities.

The Mount promotes a spirit of diversity, equity and inclusion through academic inquiry, and programs and opportunities that reflect our foundational belief in the dignity of all.

It is clear that during the next two decades the American population will witness extraordinary changes in its racial and ethnic composition. We are experiencing those changes at the Mount. When university demographics at all levels reflect the society in which we live, students graduate with role models, mentors and first-hand experiences that prepare them for successful futures.