Diversity at SUNY Orange

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important strategic priorities at SUNY Orange.  According to the College’s Board of Trustees, President, administrators, faculty and students, “diversity should be embraced as a reflection of society and should enhance the educational process.”  Institutional equity and diversity are the guiding principles for the College’s goal to provide equal access and equal opportunity to all students, employees and the residents of Orange County regardless of one’s race, color, creed, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status, veteran status or disability.

The College engages in aggressive recruitment and retention strategies to continuously address the underrepresented populations among our students and employees. In addition, the College’s President and leadership team include diversity and equity considerations in decisions affecting all students, faculty and staff at SUNY Orange.

As community college educators our professional lives are informed by shared values of mutual respect, integrity in the rigorous and honest pursuit of academic inquiry, and a commitment to the highest standards of inclusive excellence in all we do. We further value a spirited dedication to service, a celebration of culturally rich campus environs, and the gathering to our community of the most varied mixture of maturity, ethnicity, patterns of thought, language and spirituality. Our sense of ethical and democratic responsibility bonds us to one another. All those who come here will experience at SUNY Orange a sense of belonging to a special community of learners and will speak with pride of our openness and inspiration in the creation of the strongest sense of local and global community.

Given our statement of values and missions as a community college, we will strive to enhance the diversity of faculty and staff, not simply to match the faces of our student body and those in the communities we serve, but that we expand our local horizons in which we live. The empirical study, "The Compelling Need for Diversity in Higher Education," conducted by the University of Michigan concluded the following:

• For Students: diversity increases retention, job prospects, racial understanding, and satisfaction with college, openness to differences, and critical thinking
• For Faculty: diversity enriches teaching, service and research
• For institutions: diversity improves the curricula, campus social interactions, and race relations

Information on our diversity website focuses on components of the College’s Diversity Strategic Plan that coincide with the College’s Strategic Plan. Components include College and county demographic data, diversity celebrations and programs, diversity training, and community outreach, including Workforce Development Programs (Formerly CAPE) and the community forum.