The Committee on Diversity and Equity is responsible for ensuring, promoting, facilitating and monitoring diversity and equity opportunities at Marquette University. Its business may be initiated by the University Academic Senate, the Provost, other University Academic Senate bodies, individual faculty, academic staff, or undergraduate, graduate or professional students.
The Marquette University Center for Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies is an interdisciplinary endeavor that promotes critical academic scholarship on the workings of racial/ethnic identity, the persistence of racism (and other forms of social oppression), and the enduring struggle of Native American and indigenous communities in light of centuries of domination and exclusion.
Conducted for the first time in 2015, the Campus Climate Survey is a way to measure the climate of diversity and inclusiveness on Marquette's campus with regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation and veteran status. The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion analyzes the results and provides guidance to university leadership for how to improve attitudes, behaviors, standards and practices of employees and students of the institution, and leads the university in the implementation of the resulting action steps.
The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion shares responsibility for the implementation of the Culture of Inclusion theme goals from the university’s strategic plan, Beyond Boundaries. These goals include: attracting, retaining and graduating a diverse and inclusive community of students; attracting and retaining a diverse and inclusive community of faculty and staff committed to our mission; enhancing opportunities for diverse and inclusive learning and scholarship; fostering a community culture that values, respects, welcomes and promotes a sense of belonging; and engaging diverse communities beyond the boundaries of our campus.
Initiated by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion in 2019 and continued by the Center for Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies starting in 2022, Marquette supports the development of innovative courses that explore issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and that are rooted in culturally responsive pedagogy and equity-mindedness. Summer grant awards of up to $1,500 are available to several full-time faculty to develop new courses or significantly revise existing courses.
In spring of 2016, a group of equity-minded students had a dream: to create a special scholarship for undocumented students attending Marquette University. With the help of dedicated staff, these students put together the inaugural Dreamers Gala to raise funds for the Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., Dreamers Scholarship. Now an annual event, the Dreamers Gala continues to raise funds for undocumented students who demonstrate merit and financial need in pursuing a Marquette University education.
The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion provides workshops and additional information related to equity-minded hiring practices and increasing the diversity of faculty and staff candidate pools. These serve as a complement to this faculty search process for all tenure-line hires (tenure-track or tenured appointments).
Each year, the Office of the Provost, supported by the Office of the President, recognizes a faculty and a staff member who demonstrates exemplary leadership and that manifests the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion into practical action. These awards celebrate and promote student-centered inclusion initiatives, efforts to support recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and/or students, teaching and/or research that expands and embraces our understanding of inclusiveness, multicultural programming or related initiatives, and community outreach activities.
Marquette University has announced that it will be seeking the federal designation of a Hispanic Serving Institution.This would require the university to increase its full-time undergraduate Hispanic enrollment to 25% of the student body.
The Metcalfe Chair is a non-residential visiting scholar of African American, Latinx or Native American heritage. In 1981, Marquette University established this program to honor the legacy of Ralph H. Metcalfe, Sr., a Marquette alumnus who graduated from the College of Liberal Arts in 1936. A distinguished Olympian who earned gold and silver medals in the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games, Metcalfe served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon returning to his native Chicago, Metcalfe held a series of political posts before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Metcalfe died on Oct. 10, 1978; however, his legacy lives on at Marquette through this program.
This program is intended to increase the presence of underrepresented ethnic groups by supporting doctoral candidates in completing their dissertation. The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem, who earned his doctorate from Marquette in 1981 and is an internationally recognized champion of educational opportunity. The program provides a doctoral student with one year of formal mentoring and financial support, including a stipend, fringe benefits, and research and travel funds.
Marquette’s campus mural project, "Our Roots Say That We're Sisters" was created in 2020 by artist Mauricio Ramirez. It was designed to showcase the diversity, richness and complexity of our campus and Milwaukee communities and make visible the interconnected nature of the experiences and struggles of many women of color. Connected to the mural project, a podcast series by the same name amplifies the voices of female-identifying students, faculty, staff, and alumnae of color who have exhibited leadership, positive impact, or social change in their personal or professional roles, especially those who remain unsung “sheroes”. Learn more at the Haggerty Museum of Art website.
Each spring, the University Committee on Equity and Inclusion hosts the Symposium on Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice. Launched in 2019, this symposium serves as an “institutional examen” – a time to look inwardly at who we are and who we are called to be. In a dialogic process, we explore discrimination at the intersections of race, gender and sexuality, discuss how we are working to address these issues, and offer a vision for the future of equity and inclusion at Marquette.
See the first year's keynote speech delivered by Dr. Grant Silva, associate professor of philosophy, here.The role of the Marquette University Committee on Equity and Inclusion (formerly the Diversity Advisory Committee) is to create and sustain campus-level focus on diversity, equity and ultimately achievement of inclusive excellence throughout the university, among students, faculty, staff and campus leaders.
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