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 UAS, the Provost, other UAS bodies, individual faculty, academic staff, or undergraduate, graduate, or professional students.

The Committee on Diversity and Equity defines the terms diversity and equity in the following manner:

• Diversity refers to the experience of each member of the University community; with the understanding that each individual possesses unique social identities and that some of these social identities can intersect. Our commitment to diversity also includes cultivation of a climate that respects and values individual differences. Thus, the principles of diversity and inclusion refer to characteristics of each social identity* (including the intersection of multiple identities) as well as systemic factors that lead to an inclusive community and environment.
• Equity is the full embrace of equality and fairness. The term equality is defined to mean that an individual should receive fair and similar treatment within a given community. Fairness means just treatment of all persons within the University community with an acknowledgment that persons with certain social identities have historically been oppressed within society. Therefore it is important to recognize that personal, cultural, institutional, and organizational discrimination and stigmatization along social identities creates and sustains privileges for some while creating and sustaining oppression for others. Further, the Marquette University community embraces the ethic of cura personalis, and shares a commitment to moving beyond tolerance to embracing diversity.
• *Note: In keeping with Marquette University’s Catholic Jesuit mission and with respect for all individuals, social identity is meant to be inclusive. Examples include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, national origin, immigrant status, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical ability, cognitive ability, mental illness, religious beliefs, physical appearance, income or economic background, military status, geographic location, marital status, education, parental status.

Responsibilities:

1. Promotes diversity and equity opportunities at Marquette University. The term promote includes but is not limited to the following activities: building alliances across social identities; instilling values and providing tools that enable members of the University community to work together to eradicate all forms of individual and institutional discrimination and oppression; practicing mutual respect for social identities; and exploring differences and similarities in a safe and nurturing environment.
2. Ensures that diversity and equity opportunities are available at Marquette University. The term ensure includes but is not limited to the following activities: supporting and planning ongoing activities related to diversity and equity; facilitating analysis of gaps, needs and opportunities.
3. Monitors diversity and equity opportunities at Marquette University. The term monitor includes but is not limited to the following activities: synthesis and critical analysis of reports related to faculty hiring, retention, promotion, and salary.
4. Provides an annual report to the University Academic Senate.
5. The Committee may: Undertake campus-wide assessment of diversity or equity, as directed by the President of the University, or other university official. The term assessment includes but is not limited to the following activities: collaboration with administration to obtain the data necessary to analyze and report comparisons with prior data and internal and external benchmarks.

Membership: Includes six faculty members representing a broad range of disciplines and two participating faculty members, one from the library and one adjunct. All members are appointed by the Provost with recommendations offered by the committee. The Marquette University Student Government will select one undergraduate student and the Graduate Student Association will select one graduate student and one professional student to serve on the Committee. The Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center and the Ombudsman will be ex-officio members of the Committee. Voting members are appointed for three-year terms. The chair is a faculty member elected by the members of the Committee. Student member responsibilities only include those responsibilities outlined in UAS statutes Section 1.04, “1” and “2”