Vision For Diversity

Vision for Diversity

The Maryville College Statement of Purpose establishes a commitment to diversity:

“Maryville College is, in essence, a community for learning. This community includes persons with a variety of interests, backgrounds, beliefs, and nationalities.”

The College has a distinguished history of affirming diversity as essential to higher education. The first woman to graduate from college in Tennessee received a Maryville College degree. The College was among the first to educate African-Americans and led the late nineteenth century effort to sustain racial integration in higher education in the state. The College has other longstanding commitments to diversity that include international education, addressing the concerns of the Deaf community, and educating students from Southern Appalachia. But Maryville College also recognizes the beginning of the twenty-first century as a window of opportunity to address new and continuing challenges of diversity in local, national and global settings. These challenges include racial and cross-cultural relations, issues of gender and human sexuality, dialogue and conflict within and across religious faiths, and diversity in the College faculty, staff and students.

The presence of a diverse educational community provides opportunities to fulfill a commitment to democratic citizenship. Exposure to the ideas, cultures, and values of others enables all members of the learning community to grow intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally. Diversity enhances learning because it recognizes the inherent worth of all individuals. It motivates learners to discover the achievements and traditions of near and distant cultures, to more fully appreciate their own heritage, and to develop greater self-awareness. Equally important, diversity facilitates critical inquiry about the histories, assumptions, and behaviors that serve to marginalize some members of our local and global communities. Thus, diversity encourages learners to develop the intellectual agility and the sensitivity to re-examine long-held assumptions about others after carefully listening to or observing the expression of different realities. Although such an examination may reveal contradictions and invoke strong emotions, the dialogue fostered by diversity can extend critical thinking, compassion, and humility.

Motivated by the educational benefits of diversity, Maryville College seeks to provide a safe and civil environment that encourages awareness of, curiosity about, and respect for those whose insights and experiences come from varied traditions. The College strives to promote cross-cultural collaboration and to invite new voices to expand the learning community. Recognizing that critical engagement with diversity requires personal experience, faculty, staff and students are encouraged to explore diversity in curricular and co-curricular settings as they learn about and celebrate the rich variety of human gifts. Community members affiliate with various groups in order to enjoy support, to increase knowledge, to gain new perspectives, and to open windows of opportunity through social action. By design, membership in the Maryville College community promises interaction with diverse people, perspectives, and ideas.

Statement of Non-discrimination

Discrimination, Harassment, and Title IX

Maryville College is committed to providing an environment that emphasizes the dignity and worth of every member of its community and that is free from harassment and discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, genetic information, against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities, or based on any other status protected by law. Maryville College is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in the provision of educational opportunities, employment practices, or benefits. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies and concerns about violations, contact the Director of Disability Resources and Compliance, Thaw Hall Lower Level Room 111, 865-981-8124 or visit this section of the Student Handbook.

All Maryville College employees, except the counselors in the Counseling Center, the Campus Minister, and the PAVE Director, are mandatory reporters for sexual harassment on campus. This means that if you inform any MC employee of a situation that may involve sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence, dating violence, or any other form of prohibited gender or sex-based discrimination, the employee is required to report the information to the Title IX Coordinator.

If you have experienced discrimination or harassment and would like to make a report to the College or discuss your options for support from the University, contact:

Title IX Coordinator, Kelly Hawk Fitzgerald
Thaw Hall 111
titleix@maryvillecollege.edu
(865) 981-8501
Title IX Incident Reporting Form

Center for Diversity and Inclusion

The Center for Diversity and Inclusion exists to celebrate, educate and explore the vast diversity within our campus community. The work of the center is to support students from underrepresented portions of our society through on campus sponsorship of cultural programming, seminars, concerts, lectures, plays, trips and annual campus recognition programs.

Select Resources for Supporting Diverse Students

  • Campus Climate and Students with Disabilities: NCCSD Research Brief
  • CIS Abroad-Hosted Webinars: International education scholar-practitioner led webinars.
  • Disability and Gender Inequality: The Disadvantage for Women
  • A Guide for Educators in a Post-DACA, COVID-19 Crisis World: United We Dream.
  • Justice in June Website: cultivates a community rooted in truth, inspires action, and is committed to awareness with oversight for the purpose of providing a starting place for individuals trying to become better allies.
  • Young, Gifted, @ Risk and Resilient, A Video Toolkit to Support the Well-Being of Students of Color