Michigan Ross School of Business

The school's "DEI Plan of Action" was established in June 2020 in response to the Black Business Student Association’s "Statement on Racist Violence in America and a Call to Action." The plan states that the school would increase "representation of historically-minoritized faculty, staff, and students" in part by "Expand[ing] links and partnerships with URG- and women-owned businesses."

On November 12, 2020, Ross held an "insightful discussion" with best-selling author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on the history of anti-Black racism as part of the Business and Society 2020-21 speaker series. Michigan Ross partnered with the Rackham Graduate School, the School of Education, and the School of Social Work to host this event.

In June 2019, the Cultural Intelligence Center reported that the Ross School of Business gives training certificates to its staff in unconscious bias.

The school's "DEI Plan of Action" was established in June 2020 in response to the Black Business Student Association’s "Statement on Racist Violence in America and a Call to Action." The plan states that the school would "Provide training and support for inclusive and equity-focused teaching."

The Inclusive Leaders Pathway at Ross is a "degree requirement that is designed to introduce Ross students to the concepts of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in the contexts of their business education and roles as future business leaders." Students "must complete all components of the milestone requirement" in order to receive the BBA degree.

The school's "DEI Plan of Action" was established in June 2020 in response to the Black Business Student Association’s "Statement on Racist Violence in America and a Call to Action." The plan states that the school would "Revise and embed DEI courses/content in programs," "Align curriculum and DEI initiatives/programming," and "Develop a DEI curricular and co-curricular framework."

The middle of the Ross School's homepage states in large print that "Black Lives Matter" which links to the Black Business Student Association (BBSA) Call to Action webpage.

The school's Black Business Student Association issued a "Black Lives Matter" statement on "Racist Violence in America and a Call to Action," which states the following: "Many of you have let this fire spark your allyship and commitment to take the first steps towards understanding the experience of Black Americans and speaking out against racial injustice. And some of you have not. For those in the latter group, we further implore you to consider your culpability in the prevalence of the racist systems that unfairly govern Black Americans. Let this statement serve as another reminder that silence is complicity." The "call to action" portion lays out "Action Steps" for the administration to take in order to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Ross School which includes a "diversity-based curriculum requirement" and "mandatory anti-racism training" for incoming MBA students. The student association also recommends donating to the Black Lives Matter organization. (In June 2020, Michigan Ross established a plan in response to this "call to action.")

The "Business + Impact" program at Ross "stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter" and stated, "[w]e are committed to the work of dismantling the structures of systemic racism, advancing racial justice in America, and building an equitable and sustainable future." The program also provides many links on the subject of racial justice.

The school's "DEI Plan of Action" was established in June 2020 in response to the Black Business Student Association’s "Statement on Racist Violence in America and a Call to Action." The plan states that the school would "Promote DEI research and formalize incentives for DEI-based research."

The Sanger Leadership Center at Ross offers a program (2024) titled "Leading Inclusive Teams" which is a six-week program open to all Ross graduate students. The program is described as follows: "Gain evidence-based knowledge and practical tools to help you design and lead diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) teams and organizations. Deepen your understanding of identity dynamics in the workplace, gain new skills to identify privilege, mitigate bias, call in others to crucial conversations, and be an active ally. Acquire organizational tools to lead inclusive teams, create equitable organizational processes, and lead DEI strategic changes in your organizations."

In May of 2021, Michigan Ross published an article about the professor who teaches Developing Global Competency--a race and identity course that is required for all undergraduates engaging in the study-abroad curriculum to take--and her thoughts on anti-Asian racism in the US.

Ross' Office of Admissions partners with members of Ross' Consortium community to host an "UpClose diversity event" every fall. UpClose offers prospective MBA students the opportunity to experience the community and programs at Ross, and is designed for prospective students of any background who are interested in "improving the visibility of underrepresented populations in management."

The school's "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Thought Leadership" webpage states the following: "Themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central pillars of thought leadership at Michigan Ross. Our community of faculty, staff, and students pursue a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to developing and disseminating impactful knowledge and groundbreaking research related to DEI in business."

Ross' Graduate Division offers a course titled "Leading Diverse Teams and Organizations: A DEI Toolkit," which is described as follows: "For such diversity to live up to its business potential (and for organizations to provide ethical leadership), tools for equity and inclusion are essential. In this course, you'll gain evidence-based knowledge and practical tools to help you design and lead diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) teams and organizations."

Ross' Graduate Division offers a course titled "Leading Inclusive, High Performing Organizations" in which the description states, "Organizations reap competitive advantages when they fully engage and utilize the talents of people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives...In this course, we explore factors at every level (e.g., C-suite, policy, management, teams and individuals) that impede or enable inclusive, high performing organizations."

Thomas Bell, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Ross, is a "critical race scholar/practitioner with 16 years of professional experience." Bell "completed his PhD in Higher Education Leadership at Colorado State University, where he researched whiteness and white supremacy in the educational project."

Ross Graduate Division offers a course titled "Equity Analytics" which is described as follows: "Greater sensitivity to societal inequality, combined with an increasingly diverse workforce, has led many managers to ask if their business practices create disparities in opportunity and/or outcomes for employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Yet, many managers lack the analytical skills to answer such questions. This course addresses that need."

On July 27, 2021, Ross' School News reported that the school partnered with WDI Publishing to launch the "Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition — a challenge with the goal of eliciting and sharing case studies that encourage critical thinking around effective DEI measures in business."

In November and September of 2022, the Business + Impact program at Ross held the "Equity-Centered Prototyping Workshops" where students "learned how to use prototyping as a tool to generate ideas, validate concepts or explore technologies using Food Futuring to cultivate imagination" and "came to see that in our complex world there is a need to develop and test ideas without causing harm to others, by using an equity lens."

The school's Executive Education division offers a class titled "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Teams and Organizations" that takes place from March 5 through April 6 of 2024. Students "will gain personal awareness of bias, privilege and their manifestations in stereotypes, prejudice, microaggressions and discrimination" and learn "practical tools to become more anti-bias and a better ally and change advocate as an individual."

On August 7, 2020, Yahoo Finance published an article titled "Michigan Ross Gets Millions For New Diversity Efforts," which reported that "[a] pair of prominent alumni — Stephen Ross, the school’s namesake, and Jeff Blau, CEO of Ross’s flagship real estate corporation — have given $6 million to help the B-school further its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in real estate business and investing..." and that "the new gift, announced Thursday (August 6), will support 'a spectrum of initiatives' that are designed to recruit and support more under-represented populations into the fold with innovative learning and work experiences."

The ESG Concentration at Ross "prepares MBA students to confidently navigate a rapidly changing business world with strong foundations in sustainability, social impact, and administration."

Ross partners with several research centers across the University on issues related to sustainability including the Erb Institute for Sustainability in Business which "fosters sustainable enterprise through research and education."

As part of its Strategic Plan 2.0, Ross aims to increase DEI-related gifts/donations to the school, increase in diversity of students across all degree programs, achieve parity in satisfaction levels on 2026 climate survey across all identity groups, among other things.

On June 11, 2020, Ross announced that full-time MBAs led an initiative to raise awareness and raise $100,000 to fight racial injustice. They had initially sought to raise $20,000 for Color of Change, the nation's largest online racial justice organization, but then quickly upped their goal after meeting their original mark within 12 hours.

The Energy Club at Ross has a statement in support of the BLM movement. In the statement, the club stated that "a focus on energy justice is necessary to fight environmental racism" and that it "[stands] with [the Black Business Students Association and the broader Black Lives Matter movement."