Mission and Philosophy

Programs and Services

Contact Information

Diversity Action Plan (PDF)

Sept. 2007 Update (PDF)

In 2003, President Ruth J. Simmons created the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) to provide leadership for the formulation and oversight of policies related to pluralism and equity, and initiate programs and practices that promote diversity, inclusion and fair treatment of all members of the community. The associate provost and director of institutional diversity leads the work in OID.

The Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) is part of the OID. It provides services related to affirmative action; equal employment opportunity; sexual harassment awareness and prevention; faculty and staff employment disability management; and complaint resolution.

Diversity is the foundation of the academic enterprise. Exposure to a broad range of perspectives, views and outlooks is key to fostering both breadth and depth in intellectual knowledge.

Diversity policies and programs at Brown are designed to: (1) redress historical patterns of exclusion and (2) foster opportunities to embrace the greatest mix of ideas, opinions, and beliefs so important to the achievement of academic excellence. Accordingly, the term diversity is used at Brown in the broadest sense to encompass many things such as race, color, religion, age, national and ethnicity origin, disability, status as a veteran, language, socio-economic background, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political ideology, theoretical approach and the list can go on. It is through the interaction among individuals from a diverse set of experiences, histories and backgrounds that true intellectual diversity is achieved.

At Brown, we seek to achieve diversity in our living, learning and working environments by placing emphasis on the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. We also work to ensure diversity in our curricular and co-curricular offerings, and we invest in the structural supports needed to manage our lively, provocative, and stimulating community.