Mission Statement: Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Compliance

The mission of the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Compliance is to advance a shared understanding and practice of equity, diversity, inclusion, and compliance as key components of the College’s Mission and Values. To these ends, the Office has adopted the following values and definitions to foster its mission at Ramapo College:

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Compliance Values

• Equity strives to eliminate entrenched biases, stereotypes, and discrimination by encouraging the “critical deconstruction of structures, policies, practices, norms, and values” that are assumed to be neutral (AAC&U, p. 4, 2014).
• Diversity fosters greater understanding within one’s own groups and with other groups, it engenders significantly more positive views of conflict, it promotes civic engagement (Gurin et al., 2003), and it empowers and legitimizes the lived social realities and standpoints of marginalized peoples.
• Inclusion represents deliberate “organizational strategies and practices that promote meaningful social and academic interactions among persons and groups who differ in their experiences, their views, and their traits” (Tienda, p. 467, 2013).
• Compliance safeguards the rights of our community and ensures full participation in campus life through the timely and transparent discharge of institutional obligations related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination; and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA).

Definition of Terms: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Compliance

Diversity is the full range of human difference and experience. Further, diversity refers to the many ways in which people differ, such as age, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity, religion, physical and mental abilities and disabilities, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and national origin.

Equity refers to the creation of equal opportunities and the ending of discrimination against people based on their identity or background.

Inclusion exists when all individuals and groups feel accepted and are empowered to participate as full and valued members of a community

Compliance safeguards the rights of our community and ensures full participation in campus life through the timely and transparent investigation and discharge of institutional obligations related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Age Discrimination Act, Title IX of the Education Amendment Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA).

Retention Rates and Growth at Ramapo College

Sources

AAC&U. (2015) Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse our Deeping Divides. American Association of Colleges and Universities. Washington, DC.

Gurin, P. Y., Dey, E. L., Gurin, G., & Hurtado, S. (2003). How does Racial/Ethnic diversity promote education? Western Journal of Black Studies, 27(1), 20-29.

Tienda, M. (2013). Diversity ≠ inclusion: Promoting integration in higher education. Educational Researcher, 42(9), 467-475.