This office launches at an unprecedented time in which the calls for equity, inclusion, and social justice in the United States are urgent, visceral, and unyielding. It launches at a time when we explicitly proclaim that Black Lives Matter with the aim
of saving and protecting Black lives, dismantling institutionalized racism, and building a more equitable and inclusive society. The office also launches during a global pandemic that has affected the world, and disproportionately affects those made
most vulnerable among us.
Audre Lorde said, “There are no new ideas, only new ways of making them felt.” The principles and values of equity, inclusion, and social justice are not new in general and certainly not new to The New School. Our challenge as an office and a community
is to ensure that they are lived, practiced, and experienced in a new way.
The New School is committed to ensuring an equitable, inclusive, and socially just environment for all students, staff, and faculty. That commitment requires bringing together students, staff, and faculty who reflect the diversity of thought and identities
of our society. It also requires pedagogy, policies, and practices that institutionalize the values of equity, inclusion, and social justice.
No single message, initiative, or office can cure the ills that challenge us. Moreover, institutional change also does not happen at the speed demanded. With society as our mirror and our values and principles as our guide, we can be sure that there is
a lot of challenging work ahead. To be sure, the work of ensuring equity, inclusion, and social justice belongs to all of us; we all bear responsibility for our community. The EISJ Office will serve as a fulcrum for strategy, policy, and practice
across the university. Using the Campus Climate Assessment as a foundational driver for change and engagement, the office will collaborate with partners across the university to strengthen our community so
that our values are evident in the ways we learn, teach, create, gather, research, hire, engage. and operate. From policy to programming, the EISJ Office will serve as a catalyst for the changes we want in our community. And it will be with our equally
unwavering collective commitment, focus, and collaboration that we can.
Policies
The Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice will collaborate with members of the New School community on implementing university-wide strategies and policies that advance and support equity, inclusion, and social justice. Here please find links
to policies that support this work.