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Marquette University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
1250 W Wisconsin Ave
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233
Phone
(800) 222-6544
Email address
admissions@marquette.edu
School Information
"Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee, Wis., that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. "A Marquette education offers students a virtually unlimited number of paths and destinations and prepares them for the world by asking them to think critically about it. "Along the way, we ask one thing of every student: Be The Difference." The university enrolls over 11,500 students, has a 14:1 student-faculty ratio, and has 83 undergraduate majors, 81 undergraduate minors, 68 doctoral and masters degree programs, and 22 graduate certificate programs. (Source: https://www.marquette.edu/about/) (Source: https://www.marquette.edu/about/student-demographics.php) (Source: https://www.marquette.edu/academics/)
General Information
Marquette University has been considering a separate "black-only" housing facility called the "Black Living Learning Community". It is unclear what the exact structure of the housing will be. No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • Marquette's "Diversity, equity and inclusion plan for 2020-2023" states that it would "Build on existing commitments and campus resources to increase the proportion of undergraduate[s] from populations that are underrepresented at Marquette and in higher education more broadly."
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The Office of Engagement and Inclusion offers a variety of "social justice" workshops which are "designed to raise awareness and educate organization leaders, peer educators, and students on topics of social justice." Workshop topics include "stereotypes and biases" and "allyship."
  • Marquette's "Diversity, equity and inclusion plan for 2020-2023" states that it would "Expand faculty/staff workshops on inclusive excellence to focus on hiring, cultural awareness and implicit bias..."
  • As part of its "Statement on Black Lives," the Division of Student Affairs states that it would "[provide] antiracist education for our staff and [support] them in their antiracist journeys."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • Marquette's "Diversity, equity and inclusion plan for 2020-2023" states that it would "Support new course development and revisions on existing courses, with emphasis on diversity-related courses that utilize a digital learning environment." Additionally the plan states that "Since spring 2019, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion has provided small grants to faculty who develop new courses or significantly revise existing courses to infuse diverse themes, inclusive pedagogical practices, and/or community-engaged learning opportunities for their students."
  • The Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Marquette published a list of courses "approved to meet the diverse cultures requirement."
Disciplinary Measures
  • The Division of Student Affairs at Marquette outlines the process for reporting a bias incident and states, "If you have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, there are several ways to submit a report."
Program and Research Funding
  • The objective of the Center for Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies at Marquette is to "bring together course offerings in the areas of REIS across the university under one umbrella" which include courses that are centered on "the broader theoretical work being done on campus on critical race, ethnic, and indigenous studies across disciplines and colleges."
  • The Center for Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies at Marquette Spring 2022 courses include "Studies in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies: Race + Racism in Milwaukee" and "Social Inequality" and count toward the "interdisciplinary minors and majors currently offered at Marquette."
  • The Center for Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies at Marquette is an "interdisciplinary endeavor that promotes critical academic scholarship on the workings of racial/ethnic identity, the persistence of racism (and other forms of social oppression), and the enduring struggle of Native American and indigenous communities in light of centuries of domination and exclusion."
  • In 2021, the College of Communications at Marquette published a faculty research article titled "Operationalizing Critical Race Theory in the Marketplace" which is described as follows: "Race is integral to the functioning and ideological underpinnings of marketplace actions yet remains undertheorized in marketing. To understand and transform the insidious ways in which race operates, the authors examine its impact in marketplaces and how these effects are shaped by intersecting forms of systemic oppression. They introduce critical race theory (CRT) to the marketing community as a useful framework for understanding consumers, consumption, and contemporary marketplaces."
  • Marquette's "Diversity, equity and inclusion plan for 2020-2023" states that "Since spring 2019, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion has provided small grants to faculty who develop new courses or significantly revise existing courses to infuse diverse themes, inclusive pedagogical practices, and/or community-engaged learning opportunities for their students."
  • As part of the English Department's 2023-2024 Bulletin, the Literature of Diverse Cultures minor "introduces students to methods and modes of analysis in critical race, ethnic, and indigenous studies."
  • The College of Nursing's Project BEYOND-2 (Building Equitable Youth Opportunities for Nursing Diversity) "seeks to encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a rewarding career in professional nursing." Additionally, scholarship "[a]ssistance for students from diverse backgrounds who are eligible may be provided additional help."
Resources
  • The university has been considering a separate black-only housing facility called the "Black Living Learning Community".
  • The Office of Engagement and Inclusion at Marquette holds an annual "Justice in Action" conference which is "focused on advocacy skill development and education on social justice issues" and will help attendees "explore" their role in "affecting social change, especially in the context of a Jesuit institution."
  • The Multicultural Student Council at Marquette aims to "facilitate action based social justice initiatives within the Marquette community" and "promote social awareness and the importance of understanding and embracing differences."
  • Marquette provides "diversity recruitment" resources focused on implicit bias and unconscious bias and states, "We tend to have unconscious preferences for those who share our own identities or for those in powerful groups, such as men over women or white people over people of color."
  • In an April 2024 report titled “No Graduation Without Indoctrination: The DEI Course Mandate,” the organization Speech First “investigated 248 colleges and universities across each state” and found that “[more] than two-thirds include DEI academic requirements,” including Marquette University. According to the report (pg. 17), "Marquette University’s learning outcome for its general education curriculum explains that students will understand racism, colonialism, classism, sexism, and prejudice against marginalized groups." Additionally, the outcome "states that students will understand their positionality, which refers to studying where one is located in relation to their identity—race, ethnicity, or gender—and how such identities intersect."
Symbolic Actions
  • The Division of Student Affairs issued a "Statement on Black Lives" which reads in part as follows: "While change begins at the individual level, we acknowledge the presence of systemic inequities. That is, there are systems in place (and being created) that have historically disadvantaged people of color, particularly Black communities, unfairly advantaging white people. We recognize that our own institution has participated in and perpetuated these systems. Because these systems are socially constructed, we believe that they can be disrupted and dismantled."
Last updated April 12th, 2024
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