Organizational Culture, Inclusion & Equity

Our operating framework is inclusive excellence

We are committed to holding true to our founding principle of inclusion — embracing students from all backgrounds and all forms of human uniqueness to create an environment of true religious, cultural, racial, sexual orientation, gender expression and ability diversity.

As part of our 2022 strategy, we are incorporating inclusive excellence as a standard practice in recruitment and retention. We believe inclusive excellence should be the thread that runs through all we do. 

In addition, we’ve formed Inclusive Excellence in Hiring committee (THRIVE) consisting of this office of Organizational Culture, Inclusion and Equity and Human Resources, and will also include representatives from our faculty, staff, student and alumnae/i populations. We will reflect on our progress and outcomes and elicit feedback regularly to ensure accountability.

While more than a fifth of our undergrads identify as African American, Latinx, Asian, Native American and multiracial combined, we recognize the importance of acknowledging the unique identity of each group we serve at Simmons. Therefore, we will now report demographic data at the subgroup level so that we can be responsive to their unique strengths, opportunities and challenges. As of Fall 2020, the undergraduate community at Simmons is 8% African American; 12% Asian; 12% Latinx; and 4% multiracial.

Virtual Open House

Listen to our virtual open house from December 5, 2018 where we discuss how we can create an inclusive and equitable campus with members of our online community.

Inclusive Excellence Update Report

A review of OCIE's first nine months – our activities, partnerships and initiatives that build on the foundation of earlier DEI work – can be found in our Inclusive Excellence Update from 2019. This report reflects the University’s commitment to inclusive excellence as an integral part of strategy 2022. The full realization will bring us past 2022, but this timeline serves as benchmark for us to mark/measure our progress.

Inclusive Excellence Update Report