Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at CC

Centralia College will lead and engage in efforts to make a more equitable, accessible, diverse, and inclusive community.

Equity Statement

It is the policy of Centralia College to assure equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, age, religion, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, and status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran. The College will make every effort to reduce barriers to equal opportunity.

While diversity is essential, it is not sufficient. An institution can be both diverse and non-inclusive at the same time, thus a sustained practice of creating inclusive and equitable environments is necessary for success (source: https://diversity.uiowa.edu/programs/dei-definitions).

We embrace challenges and opportunities and recognize that the responsibility for this rests with each member of the college community.

Definitions

Equity refers to ensuring that each student, faculty, and staff member receive what they need to be successful through the purposeful design of the college experience with the intention to close opportunity gaps and demographic disparities throughout the institution.

Source: https://www.achievingthedream.org/focus-areas/equity

Diversity is the recognition of intersecting identities and social hierarchies, particularly related to human differences (e.g. personality, prior knowledge, learning style, ability, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g. race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender identity, sexual identity, country of origin, language, and generational cohorts) as well as cultural, political, religious, military/veteran status, or other affiliation.

Inclusion is the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity that cultivates empathy, respect, and belonging while increasing awareness, content knowledge, cultural competency and humility, and understanding in order to sustain and affirm all members. It is a commitment to the identification and removal of barriers (e.g. physical, procedural, visible, invisible, intentional, unintentional) that may inhibit members’ participation in and contribution to the educational environment and the need for learning/policy-making in a way that shares power.

Resources

Explore these collected resources at the Kirk Library for further learning.