SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

On June 29, 2023, SUNY’s Chancellor and Board of Trustees issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision on race conscious admissions which reads in part as follows: “Today, the US Supreme Court attempted to pull our nation backwards in the journey toward equity and civil rights with an egregious ruling that will have serious impacts on students and families seeking the American dream of opportunity through higher education...Today’s decision threatens to undermine what progress has been made, by throwing up roadblocks and barriers when what’s needed are better paths and bridges...At SUNY, our resolve to provide opportunity for all has never been stronger. The commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion will continue to be a factor in every goal we pursue, every program we create, every policy we promulgate, and every decision we make."

The Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access offers professional development training on implicit and unconscious bias and states that "[e]veryone harbors unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups."

 As part of its 2023-2024 Academic Catalog, ESF states that the "core of the curricula for all ESF undergraduate degree programs includes the mandatory knowledge and skills area for...diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice."

ESF outlines its bias reporting system and states that it "provides ESF students, staff, and faculty with an avenue to report incidents of bias, bigotry, or hate that occur on our campus or in off-campus settings that impact ESF."

SUNY ESF is part of the Central New York Louis Stokes Alliance of Minority Participation Program (LSAMP) Alliance (CNYLA). The LSAMP initiative supports historically underrepresented students in STEM, and SUNY ESF is one of the seven CNYLA schools "committed to working together to amplify benefits to their URM students."

In order for ESF students to participate in the Louis Stokes Alliance of Minority Participation program, they "must be be an underrepresented minority as described by the LSAMP program description (African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Native Pacific Islander)."

ESF asks visitors to the site to contribute to the "ESF Inclusion & Diversity Fund" which "provides and supports programming" for "[r]ecruitment and retention efforts" and "[p]rojects that will advance the academic success of underrepresented students at ESF."

The Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity offers resources to support SUNY ESF's goal of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.

SUNY ESF has an Institutional Statement on Diversity and follows SUNY's 25-point Action Plan to "close racial equity gaps and eliminate cultural and institutional racial discrimination across SUNY campuses."

On the topic of environmental social justice, the Office of Sustainability at ESF states that it "recognizes the tremendous need to fight for environmental and social justice on campus and beyond" and that it "prioritizes hiring student employees and Office staff members with diverse lived experiences."