DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES OFFICE
1201 S. State Street
Timme Center, CSS 312
Big Rapids, MI 49307
In President David Eisler's address, "A Vision for Ferris and Its Future," the President wrote, "Our society is one that is global, connected, and diverse and our efforts must help foster understanding, tolerance, and acceptance of differences in ethnicity, culture, religion, preference, and abilities. We must look within and honestly assess how we are fulfilling our role as an academy that both values and embraces diversity as it relates to students, faculty, staff, curriculum, and values. As part of this commitment we need to reexamine our approaches to the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and students, and determine how we can create a truly diverse campus. In short we must become the model we hope our students will become."
Ferris State University is committed to transforming into a truly diverse institution. Such a transformation requires moving beyond the toleration of diversity approach toward an institutional change that celebrates, supports, and infuses diversity into the University's core. Diversity and inclusion are not simply noble goals, they are essential parts of the make-up of great educational institutions. Ferris State University is envisioned as a great institution—a university improved by the exchange of diverse experiences and perspectives. We aspire to be an institution where the quality of education is enhanced and enriched by a diverse campus community. By bringing together people from many different backgrounds, we equip the next generation to engage present and future challenges and opportunities. In sum, Ferris State University is envisioned as an institution where all members of the community, including historically underrepresented groups, enjoy campuses that are academically and professionally supportive, respectful, safe, and welcoming—campuses where diversity is so ingrained that it is difficult to determine where diversity begins and ends.