Diversity at the University of West Florida

At the University of West Florida we define diversity as accepting, valuing and celebrating the unique characteristics of each member of our community as well as the commonalities we share. As an educational institution we recognize the considerable benefits emanating from the diverse human mosaic that is our university. It is our vision to be an intellectual and cultural center that engages our students, faculty, staff and community partners in an ongoing and dynamic process that prepares each of us to be culturally competent in an ever-changing multicultural world.

At the University of West Florida, our diversity efforts are built upon a strong foundation of three guiding principles:

Acceptance. Awareness. Respect.

We encourage members of our campus community to become active participants in this process in four action-oriented ways:

• Get Empowered - A commitment to diversity and inclusion starts with enabling community members with policies and information and rewarding them for work that they do relative to diversity and inclusion.
• Get Educated - As an institution of higher education, UWF offers many credit-bearing courses and trainings that educate students about the culture, language and histories of a variety of ethnic groups. The University also mandates training every two years for all faculty and staff related to discrimination and harassment.
• Get Involved - One way to learn more about others who are different from you is to participate in a myriad of events, student organizations and committees offered by UWF on an annual basis.
• Get Help -A college environment is a place for peaceful discourse around topics that can be controversial and political charged. UWF embraces the discourse as a hallmark of a robust academic learning environment.

---