Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI)

Student Outreach and Diversity Initiatives

Office of Diversity and Inclusion seeks to ensure that each student’s educational experience at Villanova University takes place in the context of a welcoming, caring, just, and educationally purposeful community. The Center pursues this goal through the promotion and facilitation of intercultural awareness and by offering learning resources and structured learning experiences to support students and student organizations. Students are encouraged to contact the Center if they encounter any form of bias or discrimination at the University. Once reported, students will meet privately with office staff to develop strategies for remedying problems encountered with bias or discrimination. The office also offers opportunities for students to assist the office in achieving its goals by participating in student organizations to promote diversity. Students are encouraged to e-mail bias@villanova.edu, visit the Office of Intercultural Affairs, or the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in person or online (www.diversity.villanova.edu).

Intergroup Dialogue Program

The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) is an educational program focused on supporting greater understanding about issues of inequity and promoting greater justice. IGR accomplishes this by providing students (as well faculty and staff) with the opportunity to understand their own social identities and those of others’ more deeply, and to engage responsibly in promoting equity through allyship and action. IGR is a partnership between the Communication Department and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. One-credit Dialogue classes (COM 5300) are the hallmark of the program and allow students in the four colleges to engage in small group conversations about race, class, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. IGR classes are housed in the Communication Department and are rooted in developing the communication skills of dialogic listening, cross- cultural understanding, empathy, and facilitation. Specially trained faculty and staff members co-facilitate each small class, limited to 12 students. For more information e-mail igrinfo@villanova.edu or visit www.villanova.edu/igr.