Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Where All Belong
It is our mission to create an inclusive academic experience and an environment where all students are celebrated and feel like they belong. We have worked diligently to make meaningful progress — and we acknowledge there is always more good work to be done to bring to our campus students and employees with myriad talents, expertise, and world views.
F&M’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leads several initiatives and partners
with a host of offices and clubs at F&M to coordinate their work. Recent milestones
and accomplishments include:
- Receiving the 2022 Higher Educational Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine. The HEED Award is a national honor recognizing
U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity
and inclusion. F&M was featured in the November 2022 issue of “Insight Into Diversity,”
the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
- Becoming one of 64 institutions hosting a Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center. TRHT Campus Centers play a vital role in the national TRHT effort to address historical and contemporary effects of racism by building sustainable capacity to promote deep, transformational change. As a TRHT Campus Center, F&M hosts programs on racial healing.
- The Legacy Project is a group of F&M staff, faculty, and students researching our campus history. The Legacy of Slavery report has been completed, but it is a living document located in the archives of our library. Students and employees are able to add research to this folder when they find new information concerning our history either through an independent study or by joining our Legacy Project committee. Coinciding with this work will be research done by the Legacy Project on F&M and the Civil Rights Era. We will be adding to this research oral histories of our alums who were students on campus during this era.
- Inclusion Week and Day of Dialogue: These two programs offer workshops and opportunities
for dialogue around the annual college theme. In the fall 2021 we held a Day of Dialogue,
a program where all members of the campus community participated in workshops held
throughout the day on topics around DEI that provoked challenging and educational
conversations. In Fall 2022, we offered a Week of Inclusion and connected it to the
College theme “The Intersectionality of Our Identity.” This week also included a bus
trip to New York City to visit the Reggie Jackson Museum. In fall 2023, we will roll
out A Week of Inclusion with a new Day of Dialogue. Our theme for this 2023-2024 academic
year is “Vitality @F&M: Feeling Value & Worth”. More information to come.
- Partnered with F&M Library to build a list of anti-racism resources.
F&M’s bold and strategic five-year plan (2022-2027), Leveraging Excellence, Accelerating
Discovery (L&AD), was created with the input of hundreds of faculty, staff, students,
trustees, and alumni, and is designed to advance the College and secure its position,
in perpetuity, among the finest liberal arts institutions in the country. One of our
five goals is to center diversity, equity, and inclusion as institutional values,
transforming F&M’s culture to create a safe, welcoming, and equitable community in
which all students, employees, and alumni feel a sense of belonging and are heard.Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Strategic Priority
Founded in 1989, the African American Alumni Council (AAAC) is open to all F&M students
and graduates of color, as well as supporters of F&M’s community of color. AAAC engages
current students and alumni in a network that connects them to the College and each
other through effective and rewarding communication, programs, and events. We know a vibrant campus life is a major contributor to your academic experience,
and there are many opportunities for you to get involved at F&M. Diversity, equity,
and inclusion-oriented clubs include the African Caribbean Association, Asian American
Alliance, Black Student Union, Deaf and Disabled Student Union, FEM&M, Hillel, International
Student Advisory Board, Mi Gente Latina, Model UN, Muslim Students Association, Sexuality
and Gender Alliance, and many more. F&M understands that its faculty and professional staff thrive with the right resources
and support groups. Among those are The People of Color Alliance, the Queer+Trans
Alliance, and DisabilityFPS.Getting Involved
The African American Alumni Council
Clubs & Organizations
Faculty and Professional Staff Affinity Groups
There is a strong global presence at F&M. Twenty percent of our students come from
countries outside of the U.S. F&M LGBTQ+ faculty, students, staff, and their allies are committed to working toward
greater awareness, visibility, and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. The Office of
LGBTQ+ Student Life; the Alice Drum Women’s Center; Sexuality and Gender Alliance
(SAGA); and the women’s, gender and sexuality studies program provide educational,
cultural, and social support for LGBTQ+ people at F&M.
Mindfulness at F&M is a program that works with students, faculty, and professional
staff to promote well-being, compassion and a renewed sense of awareness across campus.
International Life
LGBTQ+ Life
Mindfulness
Spaces to Gather
Alice Drum Women’s Center
F&M’s Alice Drum Women’s Center was established in 1992 to promote dialogue and action around women’s issues and to create a campus of equality and inclusion. Today, the center continues its mission toward broader goals of inclusion and advocacy along the intersections of race, class, sexuality, gender, and disability.
Learn more about the Women’s Center
Joseph International Center
The heart of F&M’s global community is the Joseph International Center (JIC), a campus space dedicated to bringing the F&M community together across borders, cultures, and languages. The JIC is the primary hub for off-campus study, international student services, and the international studies academic program.
Black Cultural Center
The Black Cultural Center is operated and maintained by F&M’s Black Student Union and the African Caribbean Association. It is a home away from home for holiday dinners, Kwanzaa celebrations, cook-outs, and group meetings.
Dining
- Simple Servings, a gluten- and allergy- free station on campus that serves a variety of delicious meals that don’t include any of the top allergens, with the exclusion of fin-fish. The entire dining hall is a nut-free facility, and gluten-free options are available in our retail locations.
- KIVO (which stands for Kosher, International, Vegan, and Organic), if you keep Kosher or Halal, we have an area in the dining hall. This space is a Star K certified kosher dining facility.
- Trellis, our entirely plant-based dining option.
Religious Spaces on Campus
- Klehr Center for Jewish Life
- Multi-Faith Room
- Muslim Prayer Room
- Meditation Space
A constellation of tutoring and academic support services are available to you at
F&M, many of which are located in one central location on campus. We offer academic
coaching, writing support, peer advising, subject-specific tutoring, and much more.
F&M counseling services work with students experiencing a wide variety of concerns
in a confidential and welcoming atmosphere. Our diverse staff of licensed clinicians
are experienced with and adept at addressing a broad range of challenges including
depression, anxiety, homesickness, interpersonal problems, grief, eating concerns,
and academic stress. If we cannot support your specific needs, we'll help connect
you to a specialist in the community who can.
The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is committed to supporting all members
of the F&M community as we promote our mission to be an inclusive and equitable campus.
The office leads several initiatives, such as strategic planning and the campus climate
task force, and partners with dozens of offices and clubs at F&M to coordinate our
work.
Dedicated Offices
Academic Support
Counseling Services
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
College is a time when students seek to deepen their understanding of themselves and
others. F&M’s Office of Faith & Meaning provides support and advocacy for religious
and spiritual life along with other meaning-making pursuits during this transformative
period of life.
As an international student at F&M, you will find an invaluable partner in our International
Student Services (ISS) team. ISS offers professional immigration support, advocating
for your academic success at F&M by ensuring you are compliant with U.S. immigration
laws and processes. Housed in the Alice Drum Women’s Center, the Office of LGBTQ+ Student Life provides
educational, cultural, and social support for LGBTQ+ people at F&M.Faith & Meaning
International Student Services
LGBTQ+ Life
Accessibility Services
The Office of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) works with students who have disabilities to determine reasonable accommodations and ensure that they have equal access to all aspects of their education.
Title IX Office
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. F&M’s Title IX office works to ensure the College complies with this fundamental law and fosters a living, learning, and working environment free of discrimination and harassment.
Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination by Jordan Denari Duffner Readings for Diversity and Social Justice by Maurianne Adams, Warren J. Blumenfeld, D. Chase J. Catalano, Keri "Safire" DeJong,
Heather W. Hackman, Larissa E. Hopkins, Barbara J. Love, Madeline L. Peters, Davey
Shlasko, and Ximena Zúñiga Anti-Racism Resources
Articles
Books
Podcasts
Websites
The F&M Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Experience
March 27, 2023
Memorial Celebration: Bill Hutson's Life and Art
The Franklin & Marshall College community will celebrate the life and art of the late Bill Hutson at a memorial event to be held April 1 at 1 p.m. at the Winter Arts Visual Center. An...Bill Hutson was a professor of painting at F&M for over 20 years. His exhibition
March 16, 2023
Generous Gift Furthers Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts on Campus
Class of 2000 alum Andrew Roth's contribution will fund diversity, equity and inclusion programming on campus over the next five years. Franklin & Marshall graduate Andrew Roth '00 has fond...Class of 2000 alum Andrew Roth's contribution will fund diversity, equity and inclusion programming on campus over the next five years.
February 22, 2023
Ranking Human Rights: F&M Global Barometers
How do you measure human rights? Two Franklin & Marshall College professors will make sense of broad global trends in an upcoming Common Hour lecture. The F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rights provide a global measure of LGBTQI+ human rights in 204 countries and regions.