ANN ARBOR, Mich.
With a new home and an acting director, and groundwork laid by some of the nation’s leading experts, The University of Michigan National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) is poised and ready to launch a number of initiatives to move the discussion of diversity beyond the issue of representation, university leaders say.
“Following the successful planning conference in May, the University of Michigan is proud to launch the National Center for Institutional Diversity, which will bring together the most astute minds and accomplished practitioners to examine diversity in all its complexity,” President Mary Sue Coleman said. “The center will bring together leaders from education, corporations, the military and the cultural and artistic fields to reconcile the theoretical and the practical, and to examine current best-practices as well as develop others for the future.”
The NCID, a long-time dream of Lester Monts senior vice provost, grew from the university’s experience with the admissions lawsuits.
“As U-M defended its case before the U.S. Supreme Court it became clear that the University’s work in the area of diversity reached beyond higher education to K-12 education, business and industry, and many other areas, Monts said. “It is most fitting that U-M continue its national leadership in this area by broadening the scope and reach of the diversity discussion.”
The center will be led by Patricia Gurin, the Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies. Gurin, whose research on the educational benefits of diversity was considered pivotal in the Supreme Court cases, recently accepted the role of acting director of the center.
Programming for the NCID, which now has a physical home in the School of Education Building, will build on last spring’s Futuring Diversity Conference, during which leaders in higher education, business, and other fields converged to share insights and recommend direction for the center. Specific initiatives derived from the conference and from discussions among the NCID Steering Committee include:
