Clemson University aspires and has publicly declared its intent to rank among the top 20 public universities in America by the year 2010. The increased diversity of our campus is one of the critical paths necessary to achieve this challenging level of continued progress. This demanding unity of inclusion must be achieved in a way that makes us much more than the mere sum of our different elements. Rather, our university must become a pluralistic community distinguished by the common sense of belonging, civility and mutual respect shared by its members.

Both within and outside academia, there are occasional efforts to denigrate the added value that diversity brings to the education experience, and the very concept is subjected to criticism and attack. However, notwithstanding the fact that Clemson University is an historic institution that glories in its heritage, it is clear that enhanced diversity and community have been essential factors in enriching our present status and broadening our future.

Community and diversity are not opposing concepts but complementing principles that can and will enable Clemson University to progress beyond what it is to what it can be. To assist the University’s progressive pursuit of this goal, I am establishing, effective immediately, the Clemson University Council on Community and Diversity. This group will operate within the following charter and guidelines:

•    Membership shall be limited enough to produce an efficient, dynamic working group, but broad enough to be a representative cross-section of the University’s faculty, staff, and students.

➢    Permanent members will include the University President who serves as both member and titular head of the Council, the Executive Secretary to the Board of Trustees, the Dean of Students, the Director of Human Resources, the Director of Multicultural Affairs, the ADA Coordinator from the Office of Access and Equity, and the Director of the Office of Access and Equity who will serve as chair of the Council for the first two years of the Council’s operation. There after, the chair will be selected by the membership, subject to the approval of the President.

➢    Term members will include representatives appointed by the Director of Athletics and by the respective chair/president of the Provost Advisory Council, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the President’s Commission on the Status of Black Faculty and Staff, the Faculty Senate, the Extension Senate, the Classified Staff Commission, Undergraduate Student Government, Graduate Student Government, the Lambda Society, the International Student Association, the Minority Student Council, and the Black Graduate Student Association.

➢    The Council may elect to modify its membership as necessary in order to obtain adequate information and representation of a particular issue or entity.

➢    Student members will serve for a period of one year. Non-student members will serve for a period of 2-3 years in order to preclude the simultaneous loss of all experienced members.

➢    Since the issues considered and the recommendations formulated by the Council frequently may require professional review in areas of expertise not represented on the Council, the University’s General Counsel, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Public Affairs Officer will be available to provide assistance in their respective areas as needed.

•    The Council will meet no less frequently than once a month during the academic year and more often if the issue(s) under consideration so require.

•    The Council will report to and receive its general guidance and directions from the University President.

•    The paramount responsibilities of the Council are to provide a forum for the continuous collection and review of information from all university constituencies regarding diversity/community goals, definitions, objectives, and status, and to identify contributing and/or limiting factors to the establishment of a positive supporting environment for living, learning, and working at Clemson University.

•    The information and recommendations developed by the Council will constitute critical input for the design of a University master plan for community and diversity. Subsequent to completion of such a plan, the Council will provide on-going evaluation of the University’s progress towards achievement of the plan’s goals and/or design of recommendations to modify the plan’s objectives or activities if necessary.

•    The Council will not be designed nor staffed to function as a problem resolution body.

•    The Council will rely heavily on input from the various Presidential Commissions, and the work of the Council is in no way intended to substitute, supercede, or replicate the vitally important work of these organizations. Rather, the primary focus of the Council will be the establishment and maintenance of a diverse campus community through broadened open communication, willing cooperation, and enhanced collaboration between all elements and echelons of the University.