Diversity Initiatives
Pushing the boundaries of knowledge
Our scholarly community is composed of a rich mix of individuals who, through their own distinctive viewpoints, contribute to the intellectually challenging culture of the University.
Statement from the President
The University of Chicago is distinctive in many respects, but perhaps in none more so than our singular commitment to rigorous inquiry that demands multiple and often competing perspectives. The nature of questions being asked and the perspectives being engaged are often a function of the diversity of experiences and outlooks of those participating. Diversity for the University is therefore particularly germane to our core perspective. We must ensure that our scholarly community is composed of a rich mix of individuals who, through their own distinctive viewpoints, contribute to the intellectually challenging culture of the University…
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Statement from the Deputy Provost for Research & Minority Issues
In 2003 the University of Chicago’s Provost’s Initiative on Minority Issues (PIMI) asserted, “A commitment to diversity is not merely or even primarily a matter of public relations. The production and testing of knowledge for the benefit of all demands intellectual and social restlessness. We must be willing to ask whether or not those things that appear true and good to us, and to those we deem like us, appear likewise to those who seem different from us. We must be willing to hear from a variety of sources to determine if our research agendas and priorities suffer from unintended biases rather than reflect a proper estimation of the state of knowledge in our respective fields. We must understand that we do not exist outside of the society we study but that we act within it and upon it, and that part of our responsibility as an institution for reflection and research is to be aware of and to assess how what we do affects the world around us”…
Read Deputy Provost's full statement »