Mission & Vision
Mission
Whose Diversity? is an autonomous collective centrally organized by undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented and marginalized communities within the University of Minnesota. For decades, this institution has treated us as unimportant, unintelligent, and disposable. Being people of color, first generation (im)migrants, differently-abled folks, people of various spiritual beliefs, Indigenous people, GLBTQ people, means that the University of Minnesota reads us as people that can be exploited. Our exploitation at the hands of the university is multidimensional; our images are used by the university to validate claims that this is a “safe” space, a “diverse” space, a “welcoming” space. Through brochures and PR materials, the University claims that our campus is inclusive of all peoples, that it has programs intended to ensure everyone’s academic success, when this has not in fact been our experience.
Thus, we have resolved to organize our communities both inside and outside of the university to hold the University of Minnesota accountable to our demands and to make this an accessible and nurturing space for marginalized communities. Our actions are politically and conscientiously in line with those of our predecessors whose efforts led to the institutionalization of the ethnic studies programs and student cultural centers. We ask that the university critically question who has been prioritized in its mission of “diversity,” and to whose interest “diversity” serves?
Vision
We envision a university that proactively utilizes its resources towards the eradication of structural inequity; a university where people of historically marginalized identities are not systematically excluded from discussions but are in the positions to lead these discussions and to have our vision fulfilled. It is our belief that we, as the people who are/have been historically marginalized at the University of Minnesota, are in the best position to envision the transformation of this university. As such, our demands and our leadership should be at the forefront of all decision making and organizing for change.
Whose Diversity? is an autonomous collective centrally organized by undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented and marginalized communities within the University of Minnesota. For decades, this institution has treated us as unimportant, unintelligent, and disposable. Being people of color, first generation (im)migrants, differently-abled folks, people of various spiritual beliefs, Indigenous people, GLBTQ people, means that the University of Minnesota reads us as people that can be exploited. Our exploitation at the hands of the university is multidimensional; our images are used by the university to validate claims that this is a “safe” space, a “diverse” space, a “welcoming” space. Through brochures and PR materials, the University claims that our campus is inclusive of all peoples, that it has programs intended to ensure everyone’s academic success, when this has not in fact been our experience.
Thus, we have resolved to organize our communities both inside and outside of the university to hold the University of Minnesota accountable to our demands and to make this an accessible and nurturing space for marginalized communities. Our actions are politically and conscientiously in line with those of our predecessors whose efforts led to the institutionalization of the ethnic studies programs and student cultural centers. We ask that the university critically question who has been prioritized in its mission of “diversity,” and to whose interest “diversity” serves?
Vision
We envision a university that proactively utilizes its resources towards the eradication of structural inequity; a university where people of historically marginalized identities are not systematically excluded from discussions but are in the positions to lead these discussions and to have our vision fulfilled. It is our belief that we, as the people who are/have been historically marginalized at the University of Minnesota, are in the best position to envision the transformation of this university. As such, our demands and our leadership should be at the forefront of all decision making and organizing for change.