Diversity and Inclusion Statement
The San Diego State University School of Communication is a community of communication scholars and teachers committed to respectful interaction and the essential equality of all humans irrespective of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, immigration status, and nationality. These values compel us to support our Black, Latinx, LGBTQ, BIPOC colleagues, students, and community members who have historically been disenfranchised by specific policies, discourses and laws. In these efforts, we directly denounce white supremacy, misogyny, heteronormativity, and systemic anti-Black racism in the plethora of ways it emerges. We are committed to working together to eliminate demeaning and dehumanizing treatments of all persons, while recognizing that racism affects people of color in different and intersectional ways.
In our efforts to make progress toward these goals, we have developed the Institute for Dialogue and Social Justice, which seeks to develop a culture defined by redressing direct and indirect forms of social and economic injustice and promoting alternative vocabularies, practices, and policies that enhance the potential for all people to live healthy, safe, full, viable, and meaningful lives. We are also diversifying the faculty and student population, we house the debate and forensics team, and the Center for Communication, Health, and the Public Good. Graduate and undergraduate students can also work one-on-one with faculty in mentoring roles, such as the Research Apprentice Program, that can improve retention and allow them to pursue their research objectives. While we recognize that we have a long road ahead of us in pursuing equity, we commit to developing opportunities for inclusion in consultation with students and faculty in order to close the equity gaps that exist.
We are committed to translating these values to behaviors promoting positive social change in our personal and professional lives. In classroom and educational environments, we will be proactive and transparent in our attempts to promote trusting relationships in the School of Communication and work towards building a network of anti-racist teacher-scholars, activists, and community members.
