|
Good learning is always catholic and generous. It welcomes the humblest
votary of science and bids him kindle his lamp freely at the common
shrine. It frowns on caste and bigotry. It spurns the artificial distinctions
of conventional society. It greets all comers whose intellectual gifts
entitle them to admission to the goodly fellowship of cultivated minds.
It is essentially democratic in the best sense of that term.
“The Higher Education: A Plea for Making it Accessible to All”
(Commencement Address of University of Michigan President James B.
Angell, 1879)
2.A General Principles
As one of the world’s great public institutions of higher education,
the University of Michigan is committed to being an inclusive, multicultural
community where differences based on race, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), disability status,
color, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, culture,
socio-economic status, sexual orientation, and religion are welcomed,
nurtured, and
respected. This commitment to various forms of diversity is a long-standing
one. The first African-American male students were admitted to the
University
in 1868; the first women in 1870. This long-standing commitment to
provide a pluralistic and tolerant climate stems from many sources,
including
the conviction that diversity is essential to creating an intellectual
and social climate that promotes the freedom of thought and creativity
so fundamental to academic inquiry, discovery, and learning. Further,
the University believes that it has a special responsibility to seek
diversity and to nurture the sensitivity, tolerance, and mutual respect
necessary for a community in which all may thrive.
The University of Michigan is committed to diversity in the broadest
sense. Race, for example, is a significant social force; the experiences
of people of different ethnic backgrounds have the power to divide
if we do nothing and the great potential to teach and unite if we
reach
out to each other. The University recognizes that an essential part
of its mission is to foster a culturally diverse environment, but
this
environment must embrace and celebrate all differences.
The
University
provides an atmosphere in which all faculty, staff, and students
can use their differences and commonalties to build an inclusive,
multicultural
community, and enlists the help of the entire community in attaining
this goal.
The principle of an open and accepting community was first articulated
in the statute establishing the University, which proclaimed in 1837
that “the University shall be open to all persons who possess the
requisite literary and moral qualifications.” Interpretation of
this principle has evolved over the generations. Nevertheless, students
and faculty continue to come to the University of Michigan to learn
the hard task of crossing the boundaries of race and culture, to engage
across what James B. Angell called the “artificial distinctions
of conventional society.” The University continues to strive to
make educational and professional opportunities available equally to
all members of our richly diverse society, and remains deeply committed
to the notion that diversity is central to the identity, integrity,
and mission of this University.
|
