Non-discrimination Resources
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
President's Reaffirmation of Policy
Stanford University
(March 2009)
Stanford reaffirms its commitment to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, and reissues the following policy statement:
To be considered a world class institution, Stanford must (among other things) be broadly diverse in its makeup. In particular and as noted in Stanford's recent publication Building on Excellence, it must reflect the multi-racial, multi-ethnic society and pluralistic democracy that serve as a foundation for the university. We believe that a diverse campus community enriches the educational and scholarly environment by bringing varied interests, experiences and perspectives to the teaching, learning, investigative and creative activities that constitute our core mission. We also recognize that our prominence brings with it an added responsibility: to assume a leadership position here as we do in our other pursuits.
To encourage such diversity, we prohibit discrimination and harassment and provide equal opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other trait or status protected by applicable law. Furthermore, it is the University's policy that there shall be no discrimination or retaliation against employees who raise issues of discrimination or potential discrimination, who participate in the investigation of such issues, or who request or take family leave pursuant to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).
As I have stated in the past, however, a simple policy of equal employment opportunity may not suffice to attract a diverse applicant pool to our campus. Some barriers are built into our society, and require the more active responses characteristic of affirmative action for locating and recruiting applicants. Hiring decisions that appear to have been reached neutrally may in fact be discriminatory if the applicant process is not accessible to (for example) women and minority group members.
The University does not sacrifice job-related standards when it engages in affirmative action. The best-qualified person for a given position must always be hired; that is the essence of equal opportunity. Affirmative action simply asks us to cast our net more widely to broaden the competition; and to develop innovative personnel management strategies for groups that have historically been underrepresented in certain roles in our society.
The President and Provost have delegated certain key responsibilities for the implementation of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action programs and practices to Rosa. E. Gonzalez, the Director of the Diversity & Access Office (650-723-0755). Effective action, however, requires the personal involvement of all members of the Stanford community. In particular, academic administrators, managers, and supervisors must individually invest time and effort to accomplish our institutional objectives.
While it is true that we have made much progress, there are still areas that require our attention. The distribution of women and minorities (for example) among the ranks of the professoriate, in senior administrative positions, and in a number of other areas is far from ideal. Continued dedication and attention by our community's members is called for; this is particularly true in the face of low representation in certain availability pools of women, minorities and others who would bring diversity to this academic community.
Stanford University therefore reaffirms its commitment to diversity and affirmative action, as well as to equal opportunity. Our educational and scholarly purposes will be served best if the country's demographic diversity finds a presence on campus, and we thereby reflect the full range and the full capacity of this society.
Stanford will update and reaffirm this Statement annually.
John Hennessy
President