Pratt Forms Diversity Committee to Enhance Campus Experience

Pratt has formed a diversity committee to provide guidance and make recommendations to the president on matters affecting diversity at the Institute. Nineteen representatives, including faculty, staff, and students, will serve on the committee, which will meet at least once a semester. Five sub-committees will meet two times per semester. The committee will share its work with the Pratt community twice annually.

Responsibility for chairing the committee will rotate between the vice president for student affairs, the director of human resources, and the Title IX/504 coordinator. Human Resources Director Thomas Greene will serve as the committee’s first chair. He says enhancing diversity on campus will further improve the quality of the Pratt experience for students, faculty, and staff.

“Fostering increased diversity of the Pratt community can contribute to the excellence of the Institute as much as the creativity, talents, and intellectual endeavors of its people do,” he says.

Greene says the committee will focus on recruiting and retaining faculty, staff, and students from diverse and traditionally underrepresented backgrounds; fostering an environment that welcomes diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences; and promoting the principle of equal opportunity in both the educational and work environments. The committee will also work on educating the Pratt community about the value of working and studying in a diverse environment.

“The overall Pratt experience is enhanced when students, faculty, and staff can take advantage of the knowledge and background provided by diverse groups of people,” Greene says.