Villanova University

On June 29, 2023, Villanova's President issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads: "As an Augustinian Catholic institution, built upon the values of Unitas, Veritas and Caritas, we recognize the unique gifts and talents that each individual brings to our community, and that remains unchanged by today’s decision. We will continue to employ a holistic approach to decision-making that considers a variety of factors, including academic and extracurricular achievements, as well as other factors related to student background and experiences."

Villanova's 2020-2030 Strategic Plan states that it would "expand recruitment and outreach efforts for underrepresented faculty, staff and students" and "codify best practices and provide training on attracting, retaining and supporting a more diverse community."

The Center for Access, Success and Achievement at Villanova "aims to recruit, retain and graduate underrepresented, first-generation and Pell Eligible students through holistic support in a culturally diverse and academically excellent environment."

Student Life will "plan and offer regular DEI and anti-racist trainings and educational opportunities for students and Student Life staff to anticipate and address needs" as well as "collaborate with the Aequitas Task Force to advance campus-wide DEI and Anti-Racist initiatives."

The ODEI created the "Race and Justice Dialogue Institute'" which "is designed to train faculty in antiracist principles and practices, including dialogue."

The Villanova School of Business will "create a training curriculum for faculty and staff that includes DEI training and actively engages the community in dialogue about DEI topics and issues."

The College of Professional Studies will "provide and promote diversity, equity and inclusion resources, including educational programming and training, to faculty, staff and students of CPS."

Villanova University offers numerous training workshops and lectures for faculty discussing inclusion.

Villanova’s initiative, VISIBLE, has an Equitable Hiring Practicum in addition to the school’s Hiring for Villanova’s Future training workshop series. These consist of training programs for inclusion and equity.

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offers "educational opportunities for faculty and staff" including the "Advancing Equity and Justice Curriculum" which is "designed to provide an educational track of foundational concepts and unified language to our Villanova community based on current research and best practices to support our aspiration of becoming an antiracist institution."

The College of Engineering's Diversity and Inclusion Committee will "[d]evelop the cultural competency skills of faculty, staff and students within the College of Engineering through education, experience and training."

The Office of Belonging and Inclusion hosts the Association for Change and Transformation which "educates the Villanova community on dynamics surrounding social identity, power, privilege and oppression through interactive workshops and dialogue."

The Office of Belonging and Inclusion offers various workshops which "provide an opportunity for students to discuss and explore more about their social identity, power and privilege, inclusion and bias, microaggressions, bystander intervention, and allyship in our environments."

As of July 2020, Villanova will "work with the Colleges and their Deans to offer a course required of all Villanova students and focused on a study of race and racism to enhance dialogue across varied groups and perspectives."

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requires two diversity courses which, "must foster understanding of how individuals are affected within systems of power, oppression, deprivation, marginalization and privilege."

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion provides a "Climate Concern Incident Reporting Form" and states, "No one should be mistreated because of their race, age, color...and it’s our shared responsibility to stop discrimination and bias when we see it."

On March 19, 2021, the president released a statement saying, "We will become an antiracist campus when we make issues of injustice our own."

The Lorenzini Family Foundation donated $5 million to Villanova's creation of the Intergroup Dialogue Center which "will support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University" and "strengthen Villanova’s existing Intergroup Relations program and focus on curricular transformation and faculty training."

Villanova has an initiative known as VISIBLE, the Villanova Initiative to Support Inclusive and Build Leaders, which has a goal of “advocating for and enabling systems change for equity and building inclusive leadership practices.” This initiative is “supported by a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant.”

The university will collaborate with other departments to "determine what data, trends or numbers are available to inform a review of policies that potentially impact matters of race and policing on Villanova’s campus."

Villanova began a Presidential Task Force on Race named "Aequitas." This task force works on Villanova's strategic plan, "Rooted. Restless."

The Faculty Congress responded to the death of George Floyd by collectively stating, "Faculty Congress will seek to have Villanova establish a George Floyd Memorial Scholarship for aspiring Black leaders. We call on faculty and the Administration to support efforts (in actions, not just words) of Black Lives Matter and other organizations advocating for racial justice, including on campus like Get Woke Nova. We request that Father Peter and Provost Maggitti co-host a yearly forum with Faculty Congress to discuss what is being done to dismantle racism at Villanova."

Villanova launched "The Living Race - Transforming Community" which "an organized and sustained effort to engage the Villanova community in facilitating opportunities for Black and minoritized students, staff and faculty to succeed and thrive within the University."

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences hosts numerous events discussing racism and critical race theory.

The College of Engineering's Diversity and Inclusion committee seeks to "advise/educate College of Engineering faculty, staff and students on diversity issues."

The M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing recently named Dr. Patricia K. Bradley as the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence.

Villanova University has many offices and programs that support DEI and provide resources for DEI.

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hosts an annual Freedom School in January which can "cover a variety of topics, such as immigration, the possibilities and challenges of globalization, the rule of law and respect for human rights, affirmative action, education and social justice, peacemaking and peacekeeping, nonviolence and nonviolent social change, and the sins of racism and white supremacy."

Villanova offers an Intergroup Dialogue program which focuses on "supporting greater understanding about issues of inequity and promoting greater justice."

Villanova offers resources on a site dedicated entirely to the “Impact of Racial Stress,” discussing topics such as the “Effects of Racial Stress” and “Ways to Cope with Racial Stress.”

VISIBLE also has a Campus Leaders Workshop event that is hosted annually. In 2023, the event was themed around “building inclusive leadership skills and practices.”

On September 28, 2022, it was reported that Villanova hosted its second Inclusion Week, an event that occurs annually. The event is intended to “promote diversity and inclusion education in and out of the classroom.”

In August of 2022, Villanova released a “Gender Inclusive Practices Guide” which details “best practices for being gender inclusive in our work spaces, laboratories, and classrooms.”

Villanova is part of the BIG EAST Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group, which consists of a partnership of 11 institutions. In January, 2023, the members held a conference in order to “discuss ongoing and future strategies to support the DE&I work of the conference office and campus athletics departments.”

The Falvey Library Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee "strives to ensure that the resources we provide are accessible [and] representative of the diverse community that constitutes Villanova University..."

On May 29, 2020, the president responded to the death of George Floyd by stating, "No matter how empathic I want to be, I have come to understand that the experience of race in America has made it impossible for me to comprehend fully how incidents like the death of George Floyd affect our black students, faculty, staff and alumni. I do, however, want these Villanovans to know that I share in their anger, their frustration, their pain and their sorrow. I stand ready to support them however I can. No one should live a life stifled by racism. All human life is sacred."

On December 1, 2022, it was announced that Villanova University Athletics collaborated with RISE to host a “Critical Conversation” in order to “shine a light on building a community committed to equity and inclusivity.”

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issued a "Statement of Antiracism" which reads in part as follows: "Antiracism also requires that we challenge any action and condemn any silence in institutional and educational policies, organizational structures or traditions that maintain or extend violence against, or oppression of, any minoritized group."

Villanova's Wildcat Crossing Ceremony is a "pre-commencement ceremony that honors students who embody diversity in any of its forms" and "celebrates many identities and stories that may be underrepresented in the narrative of our community."