Diversity and Inclusion at CAS

Our mission can best be achieved through a diverse, inclusive, and accessible environment for all.

At the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, it is our belief that our intellectual community depends upon the critical but collegial collaboration of diverse individuals from multiple communities of origin, religious traditions, ethnic and racial backgrounds, gender and sexual identities, schools of thought, and ethical and political commitments, some living with disabilities. Furthermore, our mission as a tax-exempt private educational institution is to serve the public good by educating and nurturing research and discovery. These goals can only be achieved through a diverse, inclusive, and accessible environment, in which all people are, and feel themselves to be, respected as moral equals engaged in a common pursuit of expanding the boundaries of our knowledge and creativity.

We are making real progress toward this goal.

Since the completion of our Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan in December 2017, CAS has laid the groundwork for the creation of a diverse and inclusive community. We have:

Recruited a Diversity and Inclusion Action Team
Created the position of Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and hired Vincent L. Stephens as inaugural associate dean
Established equitable hiring protocols such as training search committee members through the Office of the Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion
Participated actively in the University’s Emerging Scholars Program
Integrated social justice into the curriculum via the BU Hub’s Social Justice Pathway and various departmental curricular initiatives

Welcome from Associate Dean Vincent L. Stephens

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to welcome you to the College of Arts & Sciences. Education can liberate each of us in our intellectual, professional, and civic pursuits. Many of the most significant achievements that advance our lives, ranging from scientific breakthroughs that make the world healthier to well-crafted, illuminating forms of creative writing that deepen human understanding, are outgrowths of education. The ability to think creatively, gain greater awareness of cultural diversity, collaborate across identities and perspectives, and employ critical reasoning are hallmarks of the rigorous learning environment CAS seeks for its students.

These values are integral to our goal to make CAS an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible learning environment for all students. This informs active strategies to attract and retain a culturally diverse student population. We view the insights and experiences you bring to the College as assets. As such, the College aspires to engage undergraduate and graduate students intellectually and foster a sense of belonging.

Similarly, we aspire to practice inclusive excellence in the intellectual orientation and social composition of the College’s faculty and the courses they teach. CAS staff also play vital roles in making the College a thriving environment for all in their diverse roles as advisors, coordinators, deans, directors, and managers.

As the largest College at Boston University, CAS offers a rich menu of interdisciplinary learning opportunities. Equipping students with the knowledge and skills to address national and global concerns on an ongoing basis is a shared goal core to the College’s vision of a comprehensive education.

Some of the more challenging aspects of 21^st century U.S. life have increased national and global awareness of how exclusion, prejudice, and discrimination, distort the human experience and limit human potential. They have also generated more expansive conversations and movements centered on ways to create and sustain genuinely diverse, equitable, and inclusive societies. Higher education is a unique locus of thought and action that can help us create the world we aspire to inhabit. I believe that each of us has a unique role in creating a better world, through different kinds of problem-solving and creative endeavors, and education is a key means for achieving this momentum.

Sincerely,

Vincent L. Stephens
CAS Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion

Vincent L. Stephens’s Biography