Initiative on Diversity and Inclusiveness

Georgetown University’s President John J. DeGioia announced steps to foster respect for diversity and inclusiveness within the campus community at a student town hall meeting on April 20th, 2009. During the 2009-10 academic year, Provost James O’Donnell and Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Rosemary Kilkenny co-chaired an initiative in which three working groups addressed academic opportunities, student recruitment efforts, and student life activities and programming. At the conclusion of their work, the groups submitted recommendations to President DeGioia and Provost O’Donnell.

On September 21st, 2010, President DeGioia and Provost O’Donnell wrote a public letter to the campus community, which detailed the successful implementation of many of the recommendations and outlined steps to build on the working groups’ reports:

• Working Group on Academics: This working group examined how Georgetown can best and most appropriately facilitate cross-cultural learning, dialogue and understanding in the classroom and through the curriculum.
   
• Working Group on Admissions and Recruitment: This working group recommended ways to increase the number of underrepresented students at Georgetown. It also recommended ways to ensure that all applicants considering Georgetown understand that the University seeks students who will contribute to, learn from, and respect its multicultural community. 
   
• Working Group on Student Life: This working group explored issues related to student life, especially Georgetown’s co-curricular approaches to preparing students to live and interact in a multicultural community. Recommendations included enhancements to New Student Orientation, Residence Life programming, and leadership development and mentoring for student clubs.