BART Diversity Statement

Diversity Statement 

 

BART is committed to building open, responsive, and inclusive spaces within our community. We embrace our restorative practice and recognize our responsibility to create brave, inclusive spaces, where students, families, faculty, and staff, all-encompassing multiple intersecting identities, may work, learn, serve, and ultimately thrive. We are dedicated to making deliberate efforts to ensure our campus is a place where all differences are welcomed, all voices are heard, and where each human shares a sense of belonging. 

 

BART is dedicated to lifelong learning through the lens of cultural humility. Diversity is at the core of our collaborative, creative, inquiry-based model of education. We offer an interdisciplinary education that is inclusive of the knowledge and experiences of groups who have been historically underrepresented. Together, we strive to be a community of scholars and educators engaged in a respectful exchange of ideas and ways of being, and critical and analytical thought: essential factors for transformative learning. 

 

We believe that meaningful work within these spaces is rooted in dialogue to thoughtfully respond to the changing realities of our increasingly interconnected world. BART strives to remove current and historical barriers to success while promoting compassion, dignity, empathy, and mutual respect. We will continuously strive for excellence in DEIB through strategic planning, coordination, assessment, community programming, policy, professional development, and celebration with all BART stakeholders. 

 

Diversity: BART is devoted to recognizing,  recruiting, and retaining all facets of diverse community membership, including race and ethnicity, gender, gender identity, and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, line of thought, political affiliation, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (in)visible disability status, and any other facet of identity both federally protected or unprotected. 

 

Equity: BART is committed to working actively to challenge and respond to bias, harassment and discrimination. In the name of equity, and amongst many other initiatives, we have implemented a bias response system, launched an annual international festival, restructured our internal name change processes, and created a robust three-pronged faculty/staff/student committee on DEIB. 

Inclusion/Belonging: BART is dedicated to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our campus is a place where all differences are welcomed, and all voices are heard. We have begun multiple Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s), and student affinity spaces, which give an outlet for community voice and advocacy.