Welcome
In the 2020-2021 academic year, our university and our nation faced many challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a heightened awareness to the disproportionate health impacts on communities of color and the socioeconomic realities of our students, faculty, and staff. The killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests for racial justice across the country and world implored members of the MSU community to consider each of our roles in combating injustice and inequality. MSU students stepped into leadership positions to organize large-scale community rallies, faculty and staff participated in reading and discussion groups, and a group of student leaders and administrators worked together over the course of a year to develop a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) action plan to address the concerns of students of color.
Diversity work is ever evolving and requires strong collaboration among numerous partners. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the countless people who have taken part in this work, whether through expanding their knowledge by attending a training, starting a discussion in their department, organizing an event, reviewing hiring practices, showing up for a classmate or colleague in need, or having a conversation with someone across lines of difference. We are seeing positive changes across our community thanks to your actions — large and small.
As you read the information that follows, please consider ways to become involved in our diversity efforts in the year to come. We have much more to accomplish and continue to work toward our institutional diversity goals. We look forward to working with you to ensure that Montana State University is an increasingly diverse and inclusive institution where, as our Diversity and Inclusion Framework states, differences are a source of strength.
Sincerely,
Ariel Donohue
Senior Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Theme One: Campus Climate & Intergroup Relations
Theme Two: Education & Scholarship
Theme Three: Access & Success
Theme Four: Leadership & Accountability
Theme Five: Communication
Facts & Figures
Acknowledgements
We extend thanks to the many units and individuals who contributed content to this year’s Diversity Report, including Academic Diversity Partners, the Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons, the Office of Student Engagement, GEAR UP, and numerous others. Thank you to the Office of Planning and Analysis for providing the data and visualizations and to University Communications for designing and producing this report.