Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

In our commitment to the furthering of knowledge and fulfilling our educational mission, Augustana University seeks a campus climate that welcomes, celebrates and promotes respect for the entire variety of human experience. In our commitment to diversity, we welcome people from all backgrounds and we seek to include knowledge and values from many cultures in the curriculum and extra-curricular life of the campus community. Our commitment to work toward an environment that values diversity requires that we create, promote and maintain activities and programs which further our understanding of individual and group diversity. We will also develop and communicate policies and promote values that discourage intolerance and discrimination.

The concept and dimensions of diversity are to be advanced and incorporated into every aspect of Augustana’s activity, including student life, the curriculum, teaching, programs, staffing, personnel training practices, research, community services, events and all other areas of the university’s endeavor.

Augustana adheres to all federal and state civil rights laws banning discrimination in institutions of higher education.

Augustana is committed to providing equal access to and participation in employment opportunities and in programs and services, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status or disability. Augustana complies with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act and other applicable laws providing for nondiscrimination against all individuals. Augustana will provide reasonable accommodations for known disabilities to the extent required by law.

This policy covers nondiscrimination in employment and in access to educational opportunities. Therefore, any member of the campus community, guest or visitor who acts to deny, deprive or limit the educational, employment, residential and/or social access, benefits and/or opportunities of any member of the campus community on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in the protected classes listed above is in violation of Augustana policy on nondiscrimination. When brought to the attention of Augustana, any such discrimination will be appropriately remedied by Augustana according to the procedures below. This policy is not intended to create a contract between Augustana University and any other person.

Inquiries or concerns should be directed to: Beth Elam, Title IX coordinator & assistant dean of students, located in the Dean of Students Office in the Edith Mortenson Center #116 at 605.274.4124, ysjlp.com/titleix.

The implementation of the Commitment to Diversity will rest with the campus community as a whole. The president, in addition to a personal commitment and involvement, may use the Augustana Diversity Committee, campus administrators, faculty, staff and students, as well as other members of the campus community to implement effectively the philosophy and intent of this statement.

Sincerely,
Augustana University Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Augustana University is located on the ancestral territory of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires), an alliance that consisted of the Santee, Yankton and Teton Lakota. They are commonly known as the Sioux by non-native people. The seven tribes now occupy nine different reservations in South Dakota. The nine reservations are: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Yankton Sioux Tribe. Augustana honors and respects the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this territory on which we gather.