ϲ

Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • ϲ Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • ϲ Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

What Each of Us Can Do to Create a More Inclusive Campus

Tuesday, December 17, 2019, By Kathleen Haley
Share
Diversity and Inclusion

Keith A. Alford

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Keith A. Alford knows the work of creating a diverse and equitable campus is a challenge every day—but one that is necessary and achievable.

His vision speaks to the value of each person, as referenced, in part, in his on diversity.syr.edu:

“At ϲ, our credence in the dignity and worth of humankind is paramount. This belief is consistent with our commitment to ensuring a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible campus environment for all. Positive coexistence happens when each person feels deeply welcomed and appreciated.”

How do we get there?

“Talking about how we value diversity is easy. Doing the work to cultivate an equitable and inclusive campus climate takes effort that is intentional,” Alford says. “It takes deliberate and ongoing work to undo biases that influence our words and actions.”

The good news, he believes, is that as a community we do have the power to create this change. The great news is that many of us have already started doing the work.

“In an effort to create a climate of positive coexistence in our offices and classrooms, we must be committed and mindful that an appreciation of our identities and our backgrounds is paramount,” Alford says.

Here he shares what holds us back from embracing difference, how we can better understand our own biases and why we should care.

Q: How do we define diversity?

A: When we speak about diversity, we are not referring only to race, gender, sexual orientation or disability. There are multiple dimensions of diversity that overlap and define who we are. These dimensions can include age, gender identity, sexual identity, military status, ethnicity, racial identity, disability status, citizenship status, socioeconomic status, faith-based affiliations, education, geography and organizational position status. This list is not exhaustive. The intersection of these identities is what influences our experience and contributes to the excellence each of us brings to the table. An inclusive and equitable environment acknowledges, respects and leverages the mosaic of diversity each person offers.

Q: How might we embrace the differences of others?

A: Creating a diverse, equitable, accessible and inclusive environment requires continued work. Diversity is the intersection of the parts of our lives that makes us unique. There is fluidity in diversity. Diversity and inclusion work requires continuous dialogue in an effort to cultivate awareness to foster a campus climate where everyone feels welcomed and valued.

To reduce the impact of bias, we must engage in activities that help us develop awareness of bias and cultivate skills that help us receive feedback from others.

Q: Why should we care about cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment in our offices and classrooms?

A: If given a choice, each of us would prefer to work somewhere we feel valued, where our opinions and ideas are solicited and respected, and where we feel comfortable to express our unique identities. Actively working to create an equitable and inclusive work environment allows us all to be our authentic selves.

Q: How do we start to make those investments in personal development to understand our biases and gain greater understanding of others?

A: Developing an inclusive mindset takes deliberate and mindful work to counteract biases that have been cultivated over hundreds of years from myriad sources.

We owe it to ourselves to dig deeper in terms of the histories we were told. We owe it to each other to develop ways to engage in dialogues and courageous conversations about uncomfortable interactions with the potential for fruitful engagement.

Listening to stories and perspectives remains central to respecting true diversity and inclusion. The question is, are we ready to listen?

  • Author

Kathleen Haley

  • Recent
  • NSF I-Corps Semiconductor and Microelectronics Free Virtual Course Being Offered
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Jianshun ‘Jensen’ Zhang Named Interim Department Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025, By Emma Ertinger
  • Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Bing Dong to Present at Prestigious AI Conference
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025, By Emma Ertinger
  • Lender Center Researcher Studies Veterans’ Post-Service Lives, Global Conflict Dynamics
    Tuesday, July 15, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Maxwell’s Robert Rubinstein Honored With 2025 Wasserstrom Prize for Graduate Teaching
    Tuesday, July 15, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Lender Center Researcher Studies Veterans’ Post-Service Lives, Global Conflict Dynamics

Corri Zoli ’91, G’93, G’04 was recently named a research associate of the Lender Center for Social Justice. She applies social science, law and public policy perspectives to problems of warfare, governance in modern human conflicts and the role of…

Maxwell’s Robert Rubinstein Honored With 2025 Wasserstrom Prize for Graduate Teaching

Robert Rubinstein, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and professor of international relations in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is the recipient of the 2025 Wasserstrom Prize for Graduate Teaching. The prize is awarded annually to a faculty member…

National Ice Cream Day: We Tried Every Special at ’Cuse Scoops So You Don’t Have To

National Ice Cream Day is coming up on Sunday, July 20, and what better way to celebrate than with a brain freeze and a sugar rush? Armed with spoons and an unshakable sense of duty, members of the ϲ…

Message From Chief Student Experience Officer Allen W. Groves

Dear Members of the Orange Community: It is with profound sadness that I write to remember two members of our ϲ community, whose lives were cut short last Thursday when they were struck by a vehicle at the intersection…

Haowei Wang Named Maxwell School Scholar in U.S.-China/Asia Relations

Haowei Wang, assistant professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been named the Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Scholar in U.S.-China/Asia Relations for the 2025-26 academic year. Wang’s one-year appointment began on July 1….

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

For the Media

Find an Expert
© 2025 ϲ. All Rights Reserved.