In response to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees’ Task Force Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), published in 2021, the Accomplice Project and Undergraduate Student Government at Notre Dame led multiple student-led roundtables on DEI. Based on the feedback of over 14 diverse student organizations who attended, and several more who submitted feedback asynchronously, we have developed actionable recommendations for university administration.
To demonstrate to university administration that this report is supported by the larger campus community, we would greatly appreciate you taking the time to sign this petition and share it with as many people as possible!
✨ VIEW & SIGN THE PETITION HERE ✨
Please consider signing the petition and sharing with any other individuals, groups, departments, or clubs in your network.
Before representatives from our student-led steering committee on DEI meet with the Board of Trustees and present our recommendations at the final Diversity Committee Meeting, we’re hoping to garner as much support for this petition as we can. Some key points of feedback we include in the report:
- We ask for the university to publicly share quantifiable and time-bound goals for how they will enact DEI initiatives. There are no action items or timelines included in the Board of Trustees’ report; it simply states that “[the Board of Trustees has] every confidence that Fr. Jenkins and his team will develop a robust and comprehensive plan” to achieve these goals.
- We request that the university expands their diversity conversations and initiatives to include all historically marginalized identities in the report, they only discuss issues related to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
- We ask for the university to create a position for a Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Having an advocate for diversity at the level of Vice President will allow for more efficient and cohesive DEI efforts across the entire campus.
- We provide many specific recommendations for how the university can support undergraduate and graduate students from marginalized identities (focusing mostly on first generation/low income, LGBTQ+, disability, and race/ethnicity).
This report is a summary of our critical conversations on DEI and a push for the administrative and decision-making powers at the University of Notre Dame to meaningfully involve underrepresented, historically marginalized, and underserved members of our campus community in conversations and decisions about DEI. We commend the university on the steps that have been taken so far, but feel that much more work needs to be done to make Notre Dame a home for students, faculty, and staff from ALL backgrounds. Read the complete Student Steering Committee Report on DEI here:
