Diversity & Affordability

Introduction

Higher education opens doors to opportunities that can help create a more equitable world, and those doors must be open through affordable programs accessible to all regardless of race, gender, religion, socio-economic status and other differences. In addition, a diverse student body, faculty, and staff provide rich resources for learning and collaboration.

726 resources

Growing Together Iowa volunteer harvests produce to donate to local food pantry

  • Iowa State University (IA)

Growing Together Iowa volunteer harvests produce to donate to local food pantry


Affordable Housing Photo from Colorado State University for 2023 SCI

  • Colorado State University (CO)

Artist rendering of Rendezvous Trail Apartments, an affordable housing project in Fort Collins, Colorado.


Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to Embracing Our Humanity

  • Association of American Colleges and Universities (DC)

Framed by a personal narrative detailing Dr. Gail C. Christopher's commitment to help our nation to jettison the false belief in a racial hierarchy, Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to …

  • Posted June 28, 2023
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Decolonizing Sustainability through Indigenization in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

Sustainability discourse indicates a need to reconsider our approaches to social, economic, and environmental issues because, without deep transformation, global human survival is in jeopardy. At the same time, post-secondary …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Empowering students to confront environmental injustice: Dialogue, theory, empathy, and partnership

  • George Washington University (DC)
  • Iowa State University (IA)
  • North Carolina A&T State University (NC)
  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)

Many students find environmental justice to be emotionally overwhelming and/or politically alienating, and there is currently little work that provides instructors with effective techniques for addressing these types of challenges. …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Integrating a sustainability education model into STEM courses at a tribal college

  • Arizona State University (AZ)

Indigenous scholars have been historically excluded from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and are currently underrepresented in STEM degree programs and jobs. Having a population with STEM skills is …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Learning regenerative cultures: Indigenous nations in higher education renewal in Australia

  • Edith Cowan University
  • Deakin University
  • The University of Notre Dame Australia (WA)

What is regenerative learning in Australian higher education? This paper addresses the intersecting crises of climate, species loss and injustice; often called a conceptual emergency. We tackle the problem of …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Inclusion and social justice in sustainable higher education: An integrated perspective through the lens of public engagement

  • Sapienza Università di Roma
  • Università di Roma LUMSA
  • Università degli Studi del Sannio

The objective of this paper is to investigate the commitment of universities in terms of inclusion and social justice in the light of the opportunities offered by university public engagement …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Student perceptions and interests in sustainability: differences among student groups and impact on student sustainability program participation

  • University of Georgia (GA)

Purpose: This study aims to examine factors that impact participation of diverse university students in an academic sustainability certificate and Office of Sustainability internships at the University of Georgia, recognizing …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Social Capital, Indigenous Storytelling, and Fish Diversity: Learning Together Through Community-university Partnerships in Downeast Maine

  • University of Maine (ME)

Not only can community-university partnerships be vehicles for mobilizing community resources and affecting change, they also have high potential to produce useful, nuanced research and enable renewed visions of trust. …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Kaié:ri Nikawerà:ke Indigenous Bridging Program

  • Concordia University (QC)

We are proud to offer the Kaié:ri Nikawerà:ke Indigenous Bridging Program as a pathway for eligible First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples who don’t meet Concordia’s traditional admission requirements.

For …


Equity and Justice Working Group- Tufts Eco Reps

  • Tufts University (MA)

I implemented an Equity and Justice Working Group (EJWG) within the Tufts Eco Rep program Fall 2022 with the goal to integrate DEIJ principles into the core of the Eco …


Marquette Career Closet

  • Marquette University (WI)

Marquette Career Closet is a student-founded, university-adopted, service that provides access to professional clothes to students on campus to encourage them to pursue their career aspirations. This is done by …


Addressing the Social Pillar of Sustainability by Enhancing Racial Equity of Minorities in STEM Higher Education through the CREaTE Pathway

  • El Paso Community College (TX)
  • University of Texas at El Paso (TX)

The Center for Research in Engineering and Technology Education (CREaTE) is a national center for research in engineering, science, and technology education at The University of Texas at El Paso …


Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST+) Lives Here for Urban Health

  • University of Cincinnati (OH)

The University of Cincinnati’s Office of the President, Office of the Provost, and Office of Research committed $12 million to grow inclusive excellence by leveraging diverse perspectives to advance innovation, …


USC Trojan Shop Local Initiative

  • University of Southern California (CA)

Certainly, since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the pandemic years through recent months, the focus upon opportunities to close racial economic wealth gaps has heightened throughout Los …


Supplier Diversification program: Increasing procurement spending with diverse businesses

  • Seattle University (WA)

Seattle University wants to lead a paradigm shift in how local, large institutions do business. The university specifically intends to address the gap between businesses in the local Black community …


Unanue Scholars Program: Improving College Access for Local Latina Students

  • Catawba College (NC)

The Unanue Scholars Program serves junior Latina students from public high schools in Rowan County, North Carolina. Recipients of the scholarship are provided with a cost-free course at Catawba College …


Sustainable New Product Development for Ten Thousand Villages, a Fair-Trade Social Enterprise: Empowering Women and Economic Development through Problem-Based Service Learning

  • Florida State University (FL)

Abstract – Universities have an important role in advancing sustainable development by educating future professionals. As an effective approach to scaling sustainability education, the author implemented a problem-based service-learning (PBSL) …


Black and Brown Bodies in Green Spaces. How to Create Structural Change in the Zero Waste Movement

  • Generation Conscious, Inc. (NY)

Join G.L. Genco as he shares his story on the founding of Generation Conscious and how he builds networks and power for intentionally exploited communities. Through this discussion, he'll share …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Keynote: Tyson Yunkaporta

  • Deakin University
  • Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) (Queensland)

"All humans evolved within complex land based cultures over deep time to develop a brain with a capacity for over 100 trillion neural connections of which we now only use …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Keynote: Amali Tower

  • University of Miami (FL)
  • Climate Refugees (NY)

"We’ve got to approach climate displacement as a human security issue and not a border security issue." Amali Tower is a refugee and migration expert and the Founder and Executive …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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High Impact Inclusion and Sustainability

  • University of the Fraser Valley (BC)

This interactive session discusses the convergence of inclusion work and sustainability. It acknowledges how legacies of inequity contribute to the climate crisis and articulates why diversity and inclusion are critical …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Is a Campus a Community if Everyone Isn’t Paid a Living Wage?

  • Saint Joseph's University (PA)

Oxfam America reports that 52 million people in America are paid less than $15 per hour, accounting for 31.9% of the U.S. workforce. Women and people of color are over-represented …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Student-Led Initiatives Increasing Sustainable Purchasing

  • Butler University (IN)
  • University of Oregon (OR)

The combined purchasing power of colleges and universities is staggering, touching on everything from pens to consultants to multi-million dollar buildings. Because of this consumer power, colleges and universities can …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Centering Justice and Equity in Environmental Center Work

  • Mount Holyoke College (MA)

The US environmental field has long been plagued with egalitarianism and exploitation of populations already disenfranchised. Unfortunately, this has led to an exclusionary approach to tackling the world’s greatest crisis, …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Lightning Talks: Racial Equity & Social Justice

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
  • University of St. Thomas (MN)

This session consists of 3 15-minute Lightning Talk sessions related to campus operations. The Lightning Talks are: Accelerating University-Community Partnerships for Climate Justice - This session introduces best practices to …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Creating Institutional Change for Social and Environmental Justice

  • Saint Joseph's College - ME (ME)
  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
  • University of the Fraser Valley (BC)

Academics and observers have for decades called for holistic conceptions of higher education for sustainable development, environmental education, and related ideas, that go beyond relatively narrow projects of “greening their …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Environmental Justice & Nature Immersion: A Collaborative Partnership

  • North Hennepin Community College (MN)
  • YMCA of the North (MN)

GCST 1970 is a nature-based, credit-bearing program for North Hennepin Community College and high school students from Brooklyn Park, MN, in partnership with the YMCA and Three Rivers Park District. …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Building Social Sustainability in Food Procurement

  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

Nearly two and half years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, academic institutions continue to grapple with disrupted supply chains and their embedded inequities, which further exacerbated the challenging …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Engaging Students and Curricula to Create a More Sustainable and Equitable University Food System

  • Naropa University (CO)

Join us for a step-by-step explanation of a curriculum-based, community development approach to creating a more sovereign, secure and sustainable food system at Naropa University. Discover how staff and faculty …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Building Decarbonization Education for the Next Generation

  • Howard University (DC)
  • Stanford University (CA)

In order to prepare the next generation of building professionals, engineering education must adapt. The Stanford Building Decarbonization Learning Accelerator (BDLA) provides free teaching resources to professors so they can …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Essential Food Workers and University Purchasing Power

  • Georgetown University (DC)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

Food workers are essential, yet they endure wage theft, harassment, trafficking, discrimination, and hazardous working conditions. As institutional purchasers, universities have the purchasing power to improve labor conditions within their …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Green Bamboo Ceiling - The State of APIs in Higher Education and Sustainability

  • Mount Holyoke College (MA)
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
  • Western Washington University (WA)

In sustainability there is a green ceiling that is a challenge to get people of diversity into leadership roles. In addition, if you are Asian Pacific Islander (API), you have …

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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Tiffany Jurge plans Soup and Substance collaboration with SCITC

  • Central Michigan University (MI)
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (MI)

Central Michigan University (CMU) presents Soup and Substance events through the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OIDEI) for students, faculty, staff and community members. Soup and Substance events …


Soup and Substance: Anishinaabek Food Sovereignty

  • Central Michigan University (MI)
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (MI)

Central Michigan University (CMU) presents Soup and Substance events through the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OIDEI) for students, faculty, staff and community members. Soup and Substance events …


Pregnant and Parenting Students Belonging and Thriving Framework

  • California Polytechnic State University (CA)
  • AASHE (MA)

College success for pregnant and parenting students has important implications for racial, ethnic, and economic equity in higher education. Among students of color, one in three black students, one in …

  • Posted May 11, 2023
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Integrating Sustainability and Social Justice Concepts Across the Curriculum

  • University of Michigan (MI)

This brief document offers matrices that show how sustainability and social justice concepts such as community and equity can be integrated across disciplines. With this document, instructors can take steps …

  • Posted May 8, 2023
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Endicott College's Environmental Justice Working Group

  • Endicott College (MA)

The Environmental Justice Working Group at Endicott College was established in 2023 by Sophia Gosselin-Smoske, a student at Endicott College and a Fellow in the Office of Sustainability. The group …

  • Posted April 27, 2023
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DEI Legislation Tracker

  • Chronicle of Higher Education (DC)

The Chronicle is tracking legislation that would prohibit colleges from having diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or staff; ban mandatory diversity training; prohibit institutions from using diversity statements in hiring …


Devise and Dismantle Racial Inequity through Inclusive Professional Learning and Course Design

  • Old Dominion University (VA)
  • San Diego Mesa College (CA)
  • AASHE (MA)

Diversity, equity, and Inclusion operations within higher education are critical to fostering an environment that dismantles structural racism and intentionally develops solutions to challenges faced by marginalized and non-marginalized populations. …

  • Posted March 3, 2023
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Environmental Justice in Higher Education: From Intent to Sustainable Action

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
  • Princeton University (NJ)
  • AASHE (MA)

This webinar will trace shifts in the traditional framing of sustainability in higher education and how it is implemented, following the recent racial reckoning in the wake of the killing …

  • Posted Feb. 16, 2023
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Eddy at New Paltz: Centering Racial Equity as we Co-create a Sustainable Culture

  • State University of New York at New Paltz (NY)
  • AASHE (MA)

Sustainability has expanded to include issues of racial equity in a way that also embraces the interdisciplinarity of academic study. This webinar will introduce Eddy at New Paltz, a co-creative, …

  • Posted Feb. 8, 2023
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Dreamers Center Provides Resources for DACA Students

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

In October 2022, the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unlawful, calling into question the future of the …


No Sustainability Without Justice, Volume III

  • California State University, Monterey Bay (CA)
  • Furman University (SC)
  • Gallaudet University (DC)
  • Princeton University (NJ)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
  • OCAD University (ON)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • Intentional Endowments Network (MA)
  • Global Endowment Management (NC)

Volume III of No Sustainability Without Justice: An Anthology on Racial Equity and Social Justice shares perspectives on how racial equity, social justice, diversity and inclusion are integral components to …

  • Posted Oct. 17, 2022
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University Earns Seal of Excelencia for Advancing Latinx Student Success

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

Cal State Fullerton is one of only 10 institutions across the U.S. to earn the 2021 Seal of Excelencia. The three-year certification recognizes the university’s trendsetting leadership in engaging, enrolling …

  • Posted Sept. 14, 2022
  • Photographs
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Diverse Business Training Showcase hosted by Supplier Diversity Department for WashU buyers (detail)

  • Washington University in St. Louis (MO)

St. Louis Anchor Action Network - The St. Louis Anchor Action Network (STLAAN) comprises organizations committed to reducing inequities through increased employment, health and wealth-building opportunities. The University of Missouri–St. …


Diverse Business Training Showcase hosted by Supplier Diversity Department for WashU buyers (overhead)

  • Washington University in St. Louis (MO)

St. Louis Anchor Action Network - The St. Louis Anchor Action Network (STLAAN) comprises organizations committed to reducing inequities through increased employment, health and wealth-building opportunities. The University of Missouri–St. …


Tuffy's Basic Needs Services

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

Tuffy’s Basic Needs Services Center identifies and serves students who are experiencing an unforeseen hardship, emergency, crisis, or catastrophic life event.

The resources offered by this comprehensive endeavor are designed …


Dr. Sherie Obare, Dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering

  • Appalachian State University (NC)
  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Marquette University (WI)
  • North Carolina A&T State University (NC)
  • North Carolina State University (NC)
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)
  • University of North Carolina, Greensboro (NC)
  • University of Florida (FL)

The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center was established as a convergence of diverse and leading scientists to address the influx of phosphorus in oceans and expansion of …

This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

PA 5: Diversity & Equity Coordination

PA 6: Assessing Diversity & Equity

PA 7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

PA 8: Affordability & Access

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Diversity & Affordability Partners