Penn State Statement on Belonging

We embrace individual uniqueness, as well as a culture of belonging that supports both broad and specific equity initiatives, leverages the educational and institutional benefits of inclusion in society, and provides opportunities for engagement intended to help all members of the community thrive.  We value belonging as a core strength and an essential element of the university’s teaching, research, and service mission.

At Penn State:

• We strive to foster a safe environment of respect and belonging for faculty, staff, students, and members of the communities we serve. 
• We encourage faculty, staff, and students to effectively work and learn in a diverse community.
• We continue to provide equitable and inclusive access to our facilities, programs, resources, and services, and work toward maintaining policies and practices that are inclusive. 
• We advance and build our workforce by assessing hiring practices and performance review procedures to attract, retain, and develop talented faculty and staff from all backgrounds, circumstances, and experiences. 
• We address intersectional and intergroup disparities in areas such as representation, retention, learning outcomes, and graduation rates. 
• We embrace the rich spectrum of diversity within our community and across the globe, spanning differences in race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic background, accessibility, political ideologies, or any other distinction among individuals. It is our firm stance to unequivocally condemn acts of harassment or expressions of hate directed toward individuals or groups on the basis of these differences.