The Department of Journalism & Communication is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible environment for all students, faculty and staff. We believe that journalism thrives when it presents a multiplicity of voices and perspectives.
We aim to create a culture and a curriculum that reflect the richness of the communities we serve, belong to and learn with. We endeavor to recruit and retain representational diversity within our faculty, staff and students and strive to produce knowledge that leads to equitable futures.
We are dedicated to dismantling barriers to entry and to creating conditions where all community members have the resources and support to succeed, as well as the power and freedom to realize their chosen futures. Through ongoing reflection and action, we will continue to push the boundaries of journalism to shape the field to be representative of and accessible to all.
We are setting ambitious and ongoing goals toward the following:
Commitment to Diversity:
- Foster a learning environment by building a culture of empathy, fluency and distinctive standpoints that draws its strength from commonalities and divergences in backgrounds, experiences and perspectives
- Recruit and retain a representationally diverse faculty, staff and student body that reflects the communities we serve and the future we want to realize
- Create a scholarly environment that encourages the centering of underrepresented voices and stories in research, teaching, service and journalism work
Commitment to Equity:
- Provide equal opportunities for community members to flourish and to achieve their own visions of success
- Create and support research, pedagogy, service and professional output that address and critique systemic barriers that prevent the sharing of power in media
- Utilize the department’s power to advocate for equitable allocation of resources and support for students, faculty and staff
Commitment to Inclusion:
- Create a welcoming and robustly inclusive learning and working environment where community members are valued for who they are
- Encourage and incentivize learning, collaboration and teamwork across diverse groups
- Develop curricular goals that are representative of a variety of perspectives
Commitment to Accessibility:
- Ensure all classes, program materials and events are accessible across different abilities and needs
- Advocate to secure support services to meet the needs of students with diverse learning styles and abilities
- Explore innovative storytelling methods and pedagogies that serve the specific needs of our audiences
This is an abiding effort that requires long-term and large-scale attention and resources. To achieve our DEIA mission and objectives, we are committed to constructing a set of actionable and measurable goals and ongoing assessment and improvement of our DEIA efforts. We call on the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the Department to take action towards our shared missions.