The Climate & Inclusion Committee is an annually appointed committee of Lewis Center faculty and staff. The Committee is responsible for advising and guiding the Lewis Center’s work on equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, in collaboration and consultation with Center leadership, other committees, groups, students, faculty, or University offices or departments, and in tandem with the University’s Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.
Committee Mission Statement
The LCA Climate and Inclusion Committee’s mission is to:
- Offer opportunities for LCA faculty, staff, students, and guests to raise questions, concerns and issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion with us
- Gauge the LCA climate for underrepresented groups to ensure that all LCA faculty, staff, students, and guests feel heard, included, respected, supported, and welcomed
- Propose policies, practices, and initiatives to advance the LCA’s Purpose, Principles, and Practices for equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Assist the LCA administration with transparent communication about equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, issues, resources, and information
- Continually assess our efforts to live up to this mission
Committee Actions
2022-23
Accomplishments and activities undertaken by the Committee for the 2022-23 academic year include:
- Lewis Center events focused on disability justice
- Offered “Students in Distress Training” to faculty and staff
- Offered Lewis Center workshops for faculty and staff: “Having Difficult Conversations and the Ethics of Provocation” with artist Daniel Alexander Jones and “Course Correction — When Mistakes Happen” with Eric Anglero and Brian Herrera
- Assessed and updated the Committee’s Mission Statement
- Lewis Center was awarded the 2023 University Department Award from the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, which “recognizes an office or department that has gone above and beyond and shown a breadth of initiatives and/or support over the course of the past year.”
2021-22
Accomplishments and activities underway by the Committee for the 2021-22 academic year are:
- Completed and presented the LCA Climate and Inclusion Study to LCA students, faculty and staff for discussion in a Town Hall meeting. Review the LCA Climate + Inclusion Executive Summary (PDF). To request an alternate format of this document, please email LewisCenter@princeton.edu
- The Town Hall included an update on activities stemming from the Fall 2020 Student Teach-in.
2019-21
During the academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21, the LCA Climate and Inclusion Committee focused on creating institutional infrastructure to assess and advance equity, diversity, and inclusion at the LCA. Results include:
- Development and posting of an LCA Statement of Purpose, Principles, and Practices
- Proposal for and initiation of the Fall 2020 Student Teach-In
- Creation and implementation of an LCA feedback portal and posting of reporting resources
- Implementation of open time certain meetings with the Committee to raise concerns and questions about equity, diversity, and inclusion at the LCA
- Tailoring a climate study to the specific needs and activities of the LCA, implementing the study and accompanying focus groups, and sharing preliminary results.
We look forward to building on these efforts during the academic year 2021-2022 and welcome suggestions for how to do so using the LCA feedback portal.
Meet the Committee
Meet the current Climate & Inclusion Committee