University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University's "2018-2023 Campus Strategic Plan" states that it would "[c]ontinue and enhance recruitment strategies that increase the diversity of the graduate and undergraduate student body, the faculty, and staff in all aspects, e.g., geographic, racial, cultural, socioeconomic, disability status, and gender identity."

On June 29, 2023, UMass' Chancellor issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads in part as follows: "I write today to share updates on our work to recruit, admit and graduate a diverse student body and, more importantly, to emphasize that, while the Court may require us to change our methods, it cannot change our mission...we will work with our partners in government to ensure resources and programming are in place to meet our commitments regardless of today’s decision...Holistic admissions, which does not use race as a determinative factor, has served us well...We will work closely with the UMass Office of General Counsel to ensure, in light of today’s decision, our admission process continues to reflect our values while operating within the boundaries of the law."

The UMass Amherst Undergraduate Admissions Office states that it is "committed to providing access and opportunities for all while actively upholding diversity as a priority, demonstrating our commitment to the inclusion of historically underrepresented communities."

UMass Amherst Admission Diversity Fellows are a team of undergraduate students who work in conjunction with the Undergraduate Admissions Office in order to "assist the team with the goal to increase the number of underrepresented students on our campus, and support them while they are here."

The Undergraduate Admissions Office hosts "URep UMass" which is a "series of events meant to guide students through the admissions process" and "geared toward students of color and first-generation-to-college students."

The College of Engineering at UMass Amherst has an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion which "supports the recruitment, retention, and success of a diverse body of Engineering students that includes students of color, women, first-generation, LGBTQIA+, transfer, international, and Pell-eligible students."

The University's "2018-2023 Campus Strategic Plan" states that it would "[p]rovide tools and training opportunities for all faculty and staff to become adept at working in a diverse and inclusive environment, whether inside or outside the classroom, with colleagues, and with the general public."

In 2020, the University's College of Natural Sciences hosted a microaggression workshop for students and faculty that explained the "concepts of implicit bias, microaggressions, and stereotype threat and how they impact learning environments."

The University's Office of the Provost offers faculty development and diversity programs through the "National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity" and the "Faculty Success Fellows Program."

The University's Office of the Provost provides faculty recruitment training and includes "DPC/CPC Training" which is described as follows: "This new initiative is a form of applied implicit bias training intended to address the particular challenges of the faculty evaluation process and develop strategies to counteract bias. The workshop builds on the STRIDE faculty recruitment trainings that have been offered to address bias in recruitment."

In order to recruit a diverse faculty at UMass, the Office of the Provost offers "comprehensive search committee training and support."

The Office of Equity and Inclusion offers training and workshops that have covered some of the following topics: "Implicit Bias & Intervention Strategies," "Inclusive Leadership," and "Putting Justice & Equity into Action."

As part of the Bachelor’s degree requirements, all students must take two Diversity courses.

Based on the Dean's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Curriculum Challenge, the college of engineering is asking every faculty to submit a DEI lesson plan that is being taught to students.

UMass College of Humanities & Fine Arts lists its courses related to diversity and racial justice and states that the college is "[r]esponding to calls from our students and the larger campus community to strengthen and expand anti-racist and social justice curriculum and pedagogy."

UMass' "Social and Cultural Diversity Gen Ed Requirement" has the stated purpose to "broaden students’ exposure to ways of thinking about how to understand diverse perspectives and more effectively interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds."

The Office of Equity and Inclusion at UMass has a "Climate Incident Report Form" and states, "By reporting incidents that have negatively impacted you, others, or the community, and/or are contrary to the University of Massachusetts values and codes of conduct, you are making a valuable contribution in helping to maintain the integrity and safety of the campus community as a whole."

As part of its "Community Actions Against Racism," the Isenberg School of Management has been "implementing trainings for all Isenberg leadership, faculty, and staff that will eventually be included in our standard onboarding, with frequent renewal requirements." Topics include "bias, racism, discrimination, privilege, and mental health."

On September 28, 2023, UMass reported that its Chancellor "was a featured speaker at the White House" who spoke on the importance of the Biden Administration's (Dep't of Education) new report, “'Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education'."

On September 27, 2021, the Chancellor expanded on the “ongoing commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion with additional initiatives and programs including the Black Joy, Black Healing and Black Justice Forum, launching the Black Advisory Council and increasing the funding for the Center of Racial Justice (CRJ).

The University's "2018-2023 Campus Strategic Plan" states that it would "[p]rovide incentives and seed funding to catalyze diversity and equity initiatives."

The Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research at UMass College of Education "centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the work of racial and educational justice through community-school-university partnerships."

The Institute of Diversity Sciences focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for Social Justice which has the purpose of "[nurturing] the success of students who have been historically marginalized in STEM through affinity-based learning communities, mentored research experience, and professional development experiences."

On June 3, 2020, in response to acts of racism on campus and nationally, the Chief Diversity Officer stated that "UMPD [UMass Police Department] is committed to participating, as part of our community, in any training, seminar or effort to increase levels of understanding, prevention and responsiveness to critical issues like the ones we continue to see play out across our country."

For Black History Month, the university has sponsored programming including "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution" and a podcast called "The Black Experience Series."

The university also recently featured a fine arts exhibit, the online gallery, “Breathing While Black,” which "represents an international response to the recent and ongoing killing of Black Americans."

The university also recently showcased research on "understanding of interracial contact and communication about inequality."

The Committee Against Racism and for Equity (CARE) is hosting a monthly Diversity and Inclusion Discussion Series.

The Center for Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research at the university is hosting a program in Spring of 2022 on “White Allies Against Racism: How to be a co-conspirator for racial justice” where students are asked to “fight racism every day by unlearning whiteness” and understand their “complicity in white supremacy.”

The Office of Equity and Inclusion at UMass Amherst provides numerous Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion Resources including Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Anti-Racist.

The university has numerous academic departments and centers that have diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The Office of Equity and Inclusion at UMass Amherst has numerous diversity, equity and inclusion events scheduled throughout the year, including a cookout for Black Justice as well as many talks and discussions.

UMass College of Humanities & Fine Arts lists its Spring 2023 courses related to "environmental humanities" and social justice.

On June 3, 2020, in response to acts of racism on campus and nationally, the Chief Diversity Officer at UMass announced the creation of "The Task Force for Anti-racism" which would be a "collection of faculty, staff and students who will work to undo institutional racism in our community."

Department of Communication (College of Social & Behavioral Sciences) professor Roopali Mukherjee is a "critical race scholar of media" whose "work examines how discourses of race and racialization shape and are shaped by media cultures and the dynamics of social power."

On February 8, 2024, the Department of Comparative Literature announced that its Assistant Professor of Translation Studies, Corine Tachtiris, published a book titled "Translation and Race" which "brings together translation studies with critical race studies for a long-overdue reckoning with race and racism in translation theory and practice." The book also "explores the 'unbearable whiteness of translation' in the West that excludes scholars and translators of color from the field and also upholds racial inequities more broadly."

The Office of Equity and Inclusion provides guidance on "Inclusive Classroom Practices" in order to "enhance students’ learning experiences and academic success across cultural, social, linguistic, and learning differences, with particular attention to the inclusion of historically underrepresented groups."

In February and April of 2024, the Office of the Provost hosts the "Classroom Equity Action Plan Faculty Forum" which are "focused on improving equity in students’ classroom belonging and connectedness, which correlate strongly with traditional measures of student success." Additionally, the office states, "This focus results directly from feedback from our own students, especially those from groups historically marginalized in higher education, on their experiences at the department level through the Campus Climate Survey and annual senior surveys."

The Office of Equity and Inclusion held its third annual JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Conference in September 2024 which "feature[d] a series of educational workshops, talks, panels, and networking events to inspire, educate, and connect people."

The College of Humanities and Fine Arts departments and programs "boldly confront the global histories of race and racism, of systemic inequality and oppression, and of social justice movements and liberatory [sic] ideas."   

The College of Engineering has many DEI programs/initiatives which include "workshops, seminars, peer mentoring, inclusive curriculum advocacy, professional and personal development, community college partnerships, [and] K-12 outreach...."

University Professor Nilanjana Dasgupta was “appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Advancing Anti-racism, Diversity. Equity, and Inclusion in STEM Organizations.”

On January 25, 2022, Associate Professor at UMass Amherst was quoted in a tweet by Ibram X. Kendi in reference to a recent university poll in favor of critical race theory being taught to children.