Butler University

Butler's Spring 2023 Progress Report states that "an online training was developed to support Butler University’s capacity to recruit, retain and cultivate faculty, staff and students from marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds and identities..."

The Enrollment Management Division at Butler University "supports the outreach, recruitment, and retention of prospective and current students, ensuring that these efforts are supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion—and the founding mission of the University."

As of Fall 2021, Butler has become a "test-optional" university and states that "first-year and transfer applicants for fall 2021, and all incoming classes thereafter, can apply with or without standardized test scores such as the SAT and the ACT."

In the summer of 2023, Butler published its "Statement on Supreme Court Ruling Outlawing Race-Conscious Admissions," which reads in part, "While race will not be shared at the time of admission review, we are confident that our current community partnerships and recruiting strategies will allow us to achieve the diversity goals established in our Butler Beyond strategic direction."

Butler's Spring 2023 Progress Report states that the Inclusion Advocate Program was expanded in the Fall of 2021 to "include an online DEI training program, faculty development opportunities and community meetings."

Social Justice and Diversity requirement instituted. It consists of 3 goals: 1. Recognize multiple and intersecting dimensions of identity and inequity through the study of critical scholarship on the historical, cultural, political, and/or social experiences of marginalized communities. 2. Identify and explain the causes and impact of privilege, power, and oppression and cultivate tools for overcoming conflict and promoting equality. 3. Recognize and critique local, national, or global conditions that enable, perpetuate and/or challenge social injustice and inequity.

Butler's "Addressing Incidents of Bias" webpage allows university members to submit a report and states, "A bias incident is an act or behavior motivated by the offender’s bias against facets of another’s identity...bias occurs whether the act is intentional or unintentional."

The Butler Giving Circle awarded "its second annual community partnership grant to the College of Education (COE) to support the development of a new mentoring program in which experienced teachers of color from the Partnership for Inquiry Learning’s Leadership Group will mentor small groups of COE students in inclusive, culturally responsive, and anti-racist teaching."

In the Fall of 2020, Butler established the "Hub for Black Affairs and Community Engagement" which serves as an "intellectual and physical center for Black intellectual life through programmatic, curricular, and networking initiatives."

The Dr. John Morton-Finney Diversity Scholars program awards scholars who dedicate their "time throughout their Butler experience participating in on campus diversity, equity, and inclusion advancement." Program guidelines include "engagement in campus diversity, equity, and inclusion programming."

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invites community members to "submit proposals to the DEI Innovation Fund, which provides investments in University-wide or unit-specific initiatives that advance diversity, equity and inclusion." Examples of a an "outcome-driven" proposal would be "Greater transition and integration for students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented backgrounds" and "Professional development to support intercultural competence."

The university president said that "part of his efforts to improve anti-racism on campus would include evaluating the Butler University Police Department, BUPD. This led to a review of BUPD by a group of students, faculty and alumni. The purpose of the review is to evaluate the role of BUPD on campus and to gauge opinions from the community on Butler’s policing. The report is in its final stages," according to reporting by the Butler Collegian.

The university held "an anti-racism symposium."

Butler University presents a seminar series on religion and global affairs, with a specific focus on faith and activism. Throughout the Fall of 2022, these seminars will seek to explore how “faith and spiritual practice intersect with the tangible needs for justice and equity and how faith compels [us] to commit [our] lives to social change.”

The Critical Communication & Media Studies Department is described as follows: "CCM students understand and value critical inquiry, social justice, and diversity. Do you ever wonder why your leaders and your media don’t look more like your own community? Do you question images and ideas related to race, class, gender, and sexuality? This humanities-based program may be just the place for you—an exciting and dynamic place to examine popular culture’s influence on ourselves—as well as society."

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a "Race, Gender + Sexuality Studies" major and minor which include the following required course topics: "Intersectionality and Oppression," "Social Movements and Activism," and "Race and Indigeneity with US focus."

The Diversity Program Council states that it would "continue to fight against white supremacy, religious chauvinism, heteropatriarchy, economic neocolonialism, militarism, imperialism, homophobia, transphobia and all other systems that continue to oppress marginalized folks."

Butler's Spring 2023 Progress Report states the following regarding its DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) implementation: "Each college and the Office of Academic Affairs have created a DEI Faculty Director role, and more capacity and attention for DEI work in the colleges and academic affairs units. A new Diversity Center Faculty Fellow position has been created to better integrate the academic perspective into student life for student DEI programming."