About Equity & Inclusion at UMass Lowell

At UMass Lowell, we hold deeply to the ideals and values of equity and inclusion and a foundational commitment to free expression and rigorous inquiry. Embedding a culture of rigorous inquiry requires an environment where diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas spur dialogue, reflection, and engagement.

At core, the work under this office entails advancing a community where all members feel welcome, valued, heard, and encouraged to do their best work. Students, faculty, and staff all play pivotal roles in creating this environment that supports full participation and a sense of belonging.

• Focused Priorities
• Community Foundations
• Community Culture
• Key Offices

⁠Focused Priorities

• Cultivating Cultural Competence
• Enhancing Institutional Climate
• Creating a Culture of Belonging
• Expanding Diverse Pathways for Students

Connecting student success through a community approach is an important facet of the division’s work.  Community is not restrictive but dynamic. It progressively shapes how we serve in our individual and respective roles.  Community impacts students, faculty, and staff of all identities, experiences, & backgrounds and specifically touches underrepresented populations in ways that require a certain skillset of knowledge, competencies & familiarity.  The division’s efforts and approaches embody the following:  

⁠Community Foundations

• View people within their social context: both immediate & macro-level
• Focus on both individual & collective needs of communities
• Recognizes the complexities of culture, the multi-dimensionality of identities, and the critical nature of learning through cross-cultural dialogue & interactions
• Power, empowerment & disempowerment are central concepts: how power/resources are arranged can generate adversity or distress; informs approaches in addressing inequities & injustice

⁠Community Culture

• Embrace community in all the ways that gives meaning to our students and campus members
• View the campus as an integral factor in a student’s learning experience promoting academic and personal success, growth and resiliency, health and well-being, etc.
• Advance services that are holistic, culturally sensitive, empowering and collaborative 
• Recognize dynamics of power & privilege, in relation to systems and to individual identities while understanding that each group has different yet shared work to do.key-office