Close-up of a plaque engraved with the Cornell University motto.
A Commitment to Equity

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

The College of Arts & Sciences embodies Cornell University’s founding principle:

I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.

- Ezra Cornell, 1868

The College of Arts and Sciences embraces Cornell University’s core values and is actively involved in Belonging at Cornell, a framework designed to continue the progress towards making Cornell a more diverse and inclusive environment.

Summer scholars in lobby of Johnson Museum

Curriculum and support for students

The College of Arts & Sciences offers an expansive curriculum focused on exploration of humanity’s wide diversity of knowledge and culture, as well as opportunities that support our diverse student body.

Explore resources for students

Mukoma Wa Ngugi with students
Mukoma Wa Ngugi, pictured here teaching American Studies 2770: Representing Racial Encounters/Encountering Racial Representations in 2017, encourages his students to investigate contradictions and expand their thinking beyond ideological consensus.

Faculty at the forefront

Across our departments and programs, faculty members are leading their fields in research addressing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. The faculty-elected Diversity and Equity Committee works on issues related to equity and diversity across the College. 

Faculty involvement and resources

Person in red shirt smiles, hands on hips, while speaking with a circle of other people
Jason Koski/Cornell University Alexis Boyce, center, mingles with attendees at a reception honoring her work on Aug. 8.

Staff DEIA Committee

The staff DEIA committee seeks to honor our college's commitment to upholding the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through ongoing action, intentionally cultivating a sense of belonging for all identities and intersections of these identities.

Learn more about the DEIA Committee

Public engagement programming

In Spring and Fall 2024, The College of Arts & Sciences partnered with the Office of the Provost to host a series of talks, Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined

The College also oversees the Distinguished Visiting Journalist program and Arts Unplugged series which often addresses issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

Additional diversity, equity and inclusion resources 

University initiatives

Community resources

Resources to address racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia

Visit this page to report an incident of bias.

Land Acknowledgment for the Ithaca Campus

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

 

Learn more about this land acknowledgment through the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program.