Northwestern is committed to creating a nurturing environment to foster academic excellence, innovative research and the personal and professional growth of its students in a diverse, inclusive and supportive environment. As with many of our peer institutions, Northwestern has a history of exclusion. We recognize this history and we are actively working system-wide to address these shortcomings and grow an equitable, inclusive and anti-racist scholarly community.
Select recent milestones in NU’s commitment to DEI include:
- 2015 – Launch of the NU Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
- 2015 – FSM Office of Diversity and Inclusion and appointment of Dr. Yancy as the inaugural Vice Dean for Diversity
- 2020 – Social Justice Initiative with multifaceted anti-racism training and unconscious bias training for NU leaders
- 2021 – Diverse Candidate Slates Policy launched to advance inclusivity and equity through staff hiring practices as a component of broader social justice initiatives
- 2021 – New Chief Diversity Officer to lead NU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI), Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman
Resources
- Affinity Groups at Feinberg School of Medicine
- Anti-Racism Resources (Northwestern Center for Health Equity Transformation)
- Anti-Racism Curricula Resources (National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health, Center for Primary Care Innovation, IPHAM)
- Anti-Racism Toolkit – A list of resources compiled by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion to better understand the issues we face
- Campus Resources and Policies to ensure a safe, inclusive experience
- Faculty Diversity and Excellence and Inclusive Teaching – Resources to assist instructors in developing and maintaining an inclusive learning environment that acknowledges and promotes the diversity of the Northwestern community
- Inclusive Language Guide – serves as a resource for all members of the Northwestern community, especially those in roles of University communicators to encourage educated choices on the use of language that is inclusive and free of bias (from Global Marketing and Communications)
- Institutional Diversity & Inclusion Resources
- LGBTQ OutList and LGBTQ AllyList – Public and voluntary listings of members of the Feinberg community who identify as LGBTQ+ and those who support and promote the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ community members
- Northwestern Gender Inclusive Initiatives – Resources and support for our gender diverse students, faculty, and staff
- Racism, Anti-Racism, and Health Disparities GalterGuide – a starting point for learning about racism, anti-racism, health disparities, and the intersection of health, healthcare, and race
- Unconscious Bias Training and other required and recommended DEI training for faculty, staff, and students through asynchronous training modules at Northwestern
Access for Students with Disabilities
- Accessible Events Guide – Provides event organizers and campus administrators with the tools necessary to proactively plan events that are accessible to all attendees. This type of planning and organization makes students and their family members, faculty and staff, and community members with disabilities feel welcome at Northwestern events as opposed to an afterthought or burden.
- AccessibleNU (formerly Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, SSD) – Committed to providing a supportive and challenging environment for all undergraduate, graduate, professional school, and continuing studies students with disabilities who attend the University. The University has also established the Northwestern University Accessibility Committee, which is committed to raising awareness of accessibility issues and improving overall accessibility for faculty, staff, students and visitors to the University.
- Increasing Access for Students with Disabilities – Assistive technology is located on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses including a wide range of software and equipment including: Text-to-speech software, Speech-to-text software (Dragon Naturally Speaking), Screen-enlarging software (e.g., ZoomText), Screen-reading software (e.g., Jaws),Visual mapping software (e.g., Inspiration) and Audio textbooks or e-text (e.g., Learning Ally). Please visit the AccessibleNU website for more information.
Northwestern University Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. For more information, please go to Northwestern University’s Land Acknowledgement.