Diversity Statement
Our Commitment
Founded upon the values of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Notre Dame de Namur University is committed to addressing the constantly changing educational needs of our diverse society. In our commitment to diversity, we seek to create a sense of belonging, involvement, and sharing and to understand and accept differences. The NDNU community welcomes, celebrates, promotes, and respects the entire variety of human experience. Dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, sex/gender, disability, socioeconomic status, cultural orientation, national origin, and age. Recognition and promotion of the strength and value of diversity will be coordinated with our recruitment and admission of students, curriculum, student life, staffing, campus facilities, community services, events, and training and development.
Diversity Council
The Diversity Council meets monthly to advise the President on ways to implement a comprehensive program for the development of a multi racial, multicultural, inclusive community. Members actively facilitate and promote ongoing opportunities for campus-wide discussion relating to diversity, create an environment that fosters behaviors that model an appreciation of diversity, report annually to the University constituency on the work of the council and progress made toward stated goals, and revise stated goals as needed.
Current membership:
- Bobby Vaughn (Chair), Special Assistant to the President
- Aric Agresti, VP Development and Advancement
- Linh Bui, Student, SBM
- Erica Dominguez, Director, STARS Grant
- Caryl Hodges, Dean, School of Education
- Linnaea Knisely, EA to the Provost and Senior Vice President
- Deirdre Sargent, Director, Events and Conferences
- Randall Sessler, Dean, Student Academic Success
- Marta Sniezek, Advancement Associate
- Greg White, Provost and Senior Vice President
Belong Network
NDNU is an active member of the Belong Consortium, a network of Council for Independent Colleges member institutions dedicated to making their campuses more welcoming and inclusive. Designed in partnership with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), Belong offers a suite of professional development resources for faculty and staff to support student belonging in class and campus-wide. Belong equips faculty and staff with evidence-based skills and knowledge that increase student belonging and advance campus retention efforts and reflects NDNU’s mission and values.
Belong Resources
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Belong Resources
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Inclusive Teaching Toolkit
As seen in the ACUE resource: “Student Success through Exceptional Teaching.”
- Ensure Your Course Reflects a Diverse Society and World
- Ensure Course Media are Accessible
- Ensure Your Syllabus Sets the Tone for Diversity and Inclusion
- Use Inclusive Language
- Share Your Gender Pronouns
- Learn and Use Students’ Preferred Names
- Engage Students in a Small Group Introductions Activity
- Use an Interest Survey to Connect with Students
- Offer Inclusive Office Hours
- Set Expectations for Valuing Diverse Viewpoints
Belong Events
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Student Resources
Undergraduate and Graduate Students at NDNU have access to a broad range of support services, including but not limited to social, emotional, and academic support; career assistance; and financial help. These services supplement academic programming by providing counseling, mentoring, career development, and financial support to assist our students to stay enrolled and complete a degree.
Resources for Undergraduate Students
The STARS project at NDNU is a hub for undergraduate students transferring from community college, and those on the traditional pathway. The project targets three focus areas: Transfer and Articulation, Retention and Graduation, and Professional Development. We partner with community colleges, student leaders, staff and faculty in order to empower students to pursue higher education, successfully attain their baccalaureate degree, and climb the socioeconomic ladder in their career pathways.
Our mission
Encouraging social-emotional and lifelong learning through a student centeredness approach, we strive to create an intercultural campus. We support transfer and traditional students in their academic journeys by providing wrap-around support – mentorship, information about campus resources, life-skills workshops, and opportunities to build social capital. Our holistic perspective generates a growth mindset, belonging, and empowerment to ensure the success of all students.
Services Provided by NDNU’s STARS Project
- Peer mentorship program
- Financial literacy and other life skills workshops
- Textbook lending library
- Streamlines to optimal campus resources
- Mental Health Services
Erica Dominguez
STARS Project Director
(650) 508-3619
edominguez@ndnu.edu
Resources for Graduate Students
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Student Academic Success
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Student Accessibility Services
Recommend Reading
- Anand, Rohini (2022), LEADING GLOBAL DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION. Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. (A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations)
- Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz (2019), SEEING RACE AGAIN; Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines. University of California Press
- Kendi, Ibram X. (2019, 2023), HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST . One World, an imprint of Random House.
- Kendi, Ibram X. (2019), Workbook For How to Be an Antiracist. Growth Hack Books
- Bell, Kamau W. & Schatz, Kate (2022), DO THE WORK – AN ANTIRACIST ACTIVITY BOOK. Workman Publishing, New York.
- Delgado, Richard and Stefancic, Jean (2023), CRITICAL RACE THEORY, An Introduction. Fourth Edition. New York University Press
- Lauren Gordon, Paul (1988), POWER and PREJUDICE, The Politics and Diplomacy of Racial Discrimination. Westview Press, Inc.
Masters Diversity Equity Inclusion and Leadership Program
The MA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership at NDNU is an interdisciplinary program designed to train effective, informed, and agile leaders who understand the complex terrain of inequality, bias, and social justice and who are prepared to lead organizational change and transformation. The program focuses on leadership competencies, deep knowledge in the field, and applied diversity, equity, and social justice experiences. Substantial grant support enables comprehensive support of students who choose this program as well as the chance to design and implement change in their professional and personal communities.
HR Policies
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