October 2022

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 26, 2022—For the second year in a row, Santa Clara University has received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. The award, given to 104 U.S. colleges and universities nationwide, recognizes schools that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion across their campuses.

The 2022 award reflects more than a decade of effort at Santa Clara to create a campus culture where all students, faculty, and staff can thrive. Among other accomplishments, SCU’s newly created framework for the University’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) strategic plan is focused on six key areas: Access and Success; Education and Scholarship; Infrastructure and Accountability; Community Engagement; Climate and Intergroup Relations, and Wellness. 

A new Inclusive Excellence Division was announced December 1, 2021, comprising six offices and the multicultural student programming center: 

• LEAD Scholars
• Multicultural Center (MCC)
• Office for Accessible Education (OAE)
• Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX
• Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)
• Office for Multicultural Learning (OML) including the Rainbow Resource Center 
• Office of the University Ombuds

“This award is a testament to the strong level of engagement we’ve experienced across campus focused on ensuring belonging and inclusion for all,” said Shá Duncan Smith, SCU’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. “From countless task forces, working groups, our strategic planning process, to the many inclusive excellence liaisons representing 19 units, to the frank and productive discussions taking place across SCU, the Bronco family has continued to take action and engage enthusiastically in this work.” 

Ongoing campus programs for engagement and discussion include Safe Space, Diversity Forums, UndocuAlly workshops, Community Conversations and Dialogue Circles.

The University’s Diversity and Advancing Racial Justice dashboards track SCU’s progress and strive for transparency and accountability throughout the programs and initiatives designed to promote intercultural, inclusive, and supportive environments.

 “The HEED Award recognizes colleges and universities succeeding in all aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion across their campuses.  We look at recruitment and retention of students and employees; campus-wide and leadership engagement; programs and initiatives in support of diversity and inclusion,and more,” said Lenore Pearlstein, co-publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity.. “HEED Award winners are weaving diversity and inclusion into the fabric of what they do every day.”

As a 2022 HEED Award recipient, Santa Clara University is featured  in the November 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education in the U.S. 

About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information see www.scu.edu. 

Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121