Diversity Committee
USS is represented in the University Diversity Committee by USS President Peter Ian Cummings. UDC’s current chair is Celesti Colds Fechter Ph.D., NSGS Associate Dean for Academic Services and Professor of Psychology. New members of UDC are appointed each year by the Provost.
After a campaign last year by USS President Peter Ian Cummings, the Diversity Committee drafted a proposal to establish two new offices: an office of LGBT and an office of ALANA services. This LGBT/ALANA proposal was unanimously passed by both UDC and USS, and has been forwarded to President Kerrey. Approval of these proposals is part of the USS Agenda.
University Diversity Committee Mission Statement
The mission of The New School Diversity Committee is to support–among students, faculty, and staff—the inclusion of people who are members of class, ethnic, and racial groups that have been historically underrepresented in American higher education; people who are members of the international community; people who are disabled; and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
The University Diversity Committee believes that an academic community fostered by inclusion contributes to the free and respectful exchange of differing ideas, beliefs and perspectives in educational, co-curricular, and public programming and is an essential element in the education of students who will take their places as citizens in a pluralistic world.