Clark University Earns A HEED Award

From Clark University: Clark University received a 2018 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversitymagazine. The Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award is the only national award that recognizes colleges and universities for outstanding diversity and inclusion efforts on their campuses.

Given annually, the HEED Award measures an institution’s level of achievement and intensity of commitment in regard to broadening diversity and inclusion on campus through initiatives, programs, and outreach; student recruitment, retention, and completion; and hiring practices for faculty and staff. Ninety-six campuses from across the U.S. and Canada were selected to receive the award this year.

According to INSIGHT Into Diversity Publisher Lenore Pearlstein, institutions considered for the HEED Award undergo “a comprehensive and rigorous application process” that measures recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion.

On the process of selecting campuses for HEED Awards, Pearlstein said, “Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being accomplished every day across their campus.”

Clark’s application listed the numerous programs and initiatives offered through our Office of Diversity and Inclusion that have been created to help celebrate the talents, perspectives and contributions of the diverse students, faculty, and staff on campus. Our Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program, now in its second year, enables participants to engage in critical dialogue and in-depth examination of diversity, difference, power, privilege, and the President’s Diversity Advisory Council (PDAC) advises campus leaders and makes recommendations about best practices in creating a diverse and inclusive campus community. Clark’s ODI Co-funding Program helps support activities, events, research, and recruitment efforts, and the newly created D’Army Bailey Diversity Fund provides aid to talented students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to finance their education at Clark. The fund also assists in the recruitment and retention of a more diverse faculty and provides critical support for faculty to diversify the curriculum, develop academic programming and lectures, and support the work of the Center for Gender, Race, and Area Studies, the unit that serves as the hub for academic endeavors in diversity and inclusion.

“It is an honor to be recognized nationally for the great work we are doing on our campus,” said Sheree M. Marlowe Ohen, chief officer for diversity and inclusion.

The November 2018 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine will include the names of this year’s HEED Award recipients. The campuses are also listed on the web at insightintodiversity.com.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the oldest and largest publication covering diversity in higher education today. The publication publishes timely, thought-provoking news and feature stories on matters of diversity and inclusion across higher education and beyond.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university addressing natural, social and human imperatives from local to global scales. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is a transformative force in higher education today.LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to complex challenges in the natural sciences, psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge Convention. Change Our World.

Images via Clark University