ASU lauded for diversity, inclusion
ASU earns 2013 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award
For its commitment to diversity and inclusion, Arizona State University has received the 2013 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
The HEED award honors U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to inclusive excellence. ASU was selected based on its exemplary diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as its ability to embrace a broad definition of diversity on its campuses, including gender, race, ethnicity, veterans, people with disabilities and members of the LGBT community.
“ASU is proud to receive the HEED Award, which recognizes our broad and simultaneous commitment to excellence and access,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “Arizona State University’s promise of inclusivity is central to its mission as a New American University and is evident throughout its diverse and talented community.”
ASU was noted for many of its accomplishments, including:
• Growing student racial and ethnic minority enrollment by increasing its relative proportion of the student population from 20.7 percent in fall 2002 to 32.5 percent in fall 2012.
• Dramatically increasing the number of minority students it graduates. For bachelor’s degrees, the university saw an increase of 1,641 to 3,720 graduates in the past decade, a 127 percent increase. For graduate degrees, the increase was from 400 to 1,025 graduates, a 156 percent increase. ASU was named by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education to its list, “Top 100 Producers of Minority Degrees 2012.”
• Launching the President Barack Obama Scholars Program to expand university access to match Arizona’s diversification and growth.
• For the fifth consecutive year, being named a “Military Friendly School” for its leadership in providing educational support benefits and paths to success for veterans.
• For two years in a row (2011 and 2012), earning the highest rating possible for LGBT employee equity from the Greater Phoenix Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
“ASU truly fosters an environment where we all can live and learn as a community that thrives on our diversity and where all of our students, including all from different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, nationalities and religions, can learn and succeed together,” said Elizabeth D. Phillips, executive vice president and provost.
“Applying for this award was a team effort between the Provost’s Office and Kamala Green, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion,” said Maria T. Allison, vice provost for academic excellence and inclusion. “We documented the broad range of diversity-related activities and programs that exist at ASU from those that support a diverse faculty and staff, through academic and student success programs that provide strong learning environments for our students.”
“We hope the HEED award serves as a way to honor those institutions of higher education that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion as part of their everyday campus culture,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
Other notable recipients of this year’s HEED award include Kent State University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Princeton University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Texas at Austin.
ASU will be featured in INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s November 2013 issue.