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Creating and sustaining a more welcoming and inclusive campus environment positions both institutions and students to succeed in a more diverse world.
DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT
Higher education institutions, by all accounts, are more diverse today than ever before. A recent report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) cites increases in college attendance among every racial minority group between 1976 and 2015, and Gallup notes that the number of millennials who identify as LGBT increased from 5.8 percent in 2012 to 8.1 percent in 2017 (National Center for Education Statistics 2018; Newport 2018). A 2016 NCES survey finds that 19 percent of undergraduates report some type of disability-from limited mobility to learning disabilities to mental health concerns (National Center for Education Statistics 2016). There is also greater socioeconomic diversity among students: the number of Pell Grant recipients nearly doubled within the last two decades to 7.1 million students in 2016 (Chingos 2018). Students are also more likely to come from urban versus rural environments, according to the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics 2015).
This steady increase in student diversity over the past several decades is demonstrative of the enduring success of the U.S. higher education system. From the 1944 G.I. Bill, which brought an unprecedented number of returning World War II veterans into higher education, to the Pell Grant, which provides degree pathways for lower-income students, expanding access to higher education has been a national priority for decades. Student populations now, more than ever before, represent the rich diversity that defines our country. This evolution also coincides with the changing values, priorities, and needs of millennial students. Student activism and advocacy for greater diversity is on the rise. The bottom line for many of today's students is clear: now more than ever, values matter when selecting a school.
Institutions have responded to this changing context in multiple ways. This article explores the programmatic and administrative responses as well as the physical planning and design opportunities associated with creating and sustaining more diverse and inclusive campus environments.
PROGRAMMATIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSES
To understand the current challenges facing U.S. colleges and universities with regard to diversity and inclusion, it is helpful to review some historical context, including a discussion of the national racial climate over...