Welcoming and Inclusive Environment
Welcoming and Inclusive Environment
Diversity is about creating an intentionally inclusive and equitable environment for everyone to come together and thrive. How do we accomplish this? By inviting you to be you.
RIT has assembled an exceptional community of people who hold a genuine appreciation for unique interests and points of view. We have built an inviting community defined by inclusion and equity.
We welcome all. We celebrate all.
Because RIT is a place where ideas prosper, perspectives enlighten, global understanding and citizenship flourish, and everyone can identify and fulfill their sense of purpose, meaning, value, and ambition.
You bring you, and we’ll provide the rest.
David C. Munson Jr,
President
Keith Jenkins,
Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion
Spaces to Thrive
Q Center
The Q Center is our LGTBQ+ safe space and resource center at RIT. This space fosters an educational environment in which all community members can be personally, academically, and professionally successful without regard to gender, racial/ethnic origins, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and socioeconomic status.
MOSAIC Center
The center provides the RIT community with programming and educational opportunities, fosters an appreciation for diversity, and models a healthy campus climate and community through intergroup relations. Working as a community, the MOSAIC Center is more than just a home away from home, but a truly unique and transformative space on campus. Students can use the center as a presentation space, study space, place to hang out, or a place to relax and take a break between classes.
Women and Gender
Campus Life's Women and Gender team advocates for a progressive, safe, inclusive, and equitable campus community. The Women and Gender team offers educational programs to engage our community on relevant issues that impact and affect women and gender minorities.
Expanding Educational Access
Access Services
The RIT community is home to a lively mix of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing people. The Department of Access Services (DAS) is dedicated to making the campus an inclusive environment by providing access to communication between signing and non-signing members of our community. DAS offers interpreting, real-time captioning, and notetaking for students and faculty in all of the colleges of RIT. In addition to academic settings, DAS provides interpreting and captioning for student clubs, organizations, entertainment, and athletics, as well as for faculty and staff meetings and trainings.
Disability Services Office
The Disability Services Office facilitates equitable access to the full RIT experience for students with disabilities. RIT values disability as diversity. The Disability Services Office collaborates with campus partners to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus community. All students who identify as having a permanent or temporary disability are encouraged to work with the office to coordinate access and accommodations.
ECCO Center
The ECCO Center —Engineers of Color Creating Opportunities—provides diversity initiatives and programs devoted to increasing the number of underrepresented African American, Latino American and Native American (AALANA) student engineers in the college. Supporting successful graduation rates, providing community service opportunities, and preparing these students for leadership roles within the engineering profession.
International Student Services
International Student Services assists individuals from more than 100 countries. We advise students, faculty, clubs and departments on immigration, cultural, academic and personal matters. They work closely with Global Union, and several other international student clubs.
Men of Color, Honor, and Ambition
MOCHA is a one-year program available for all male undergraduate students between their second and fifth years of study, with an emphasis on male students of color. It seeks to empower its members and develop their leadership and professional skills to improve academic success and prepare members to become successful leaders in their respective careers and communities.
Multicultural Center for Academic Success
MCAS is dedicated to offering academic support to RIT’s AALANA (African American, Latino American, and Native American) student population. Students who engage with MCAS gain access to one-on-one coaching, leadership development opportunities, cultural diversity programs, and community building opportunities.
Native American Future Stewards Program
The Native American Future Stewards Program is committed to increasing the number and success rate of Native scholars (Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nations) in science, technology, engineering, and math, as well as other areas of need in indigenous communities. By partnering with students, Tribal nations, organizations, and corporations, the Future Stewards program aims to grant Native scholars the opportunity to develop professionally, personally, and culturally.
Rochester City Scholars
The Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars program provides incoming RIT freshmen who live in the city of Rochester and have graduated from the Rochester City School District with an opportunity to have their RIT tuition fully covered. Before their studies, incoming freshmen who have been accepted into the program participate in a fully funded, on-campus enrichment program that starts the summer before their first year. City Scholars also participate in weekly one-on-one meetings with an advisor in the Multicultural Center for Academic Success and receive support, guidance, and access to a wide range of campus resources.
Spectrum Support Program
The Spectrum Support Program is built to provide support for RIT students with autism spectrum disorders. Our staff is dedicated to assist students in achieving academic, social, and career success, and seeks to help them grow in areas such as self-care, self-advocacy, social connection, and more. Through training and consultation, we work to create a culture of acceptance across campus.
Spirituality and Religious Life
Spirituality and Religious Life at RIT cultivates engaged and vibrant religious, secular, and spiritual communities on campus. This is a space for anyone and everyone who wants to explore existential questions about purpose, meaning, and value. There are eight major religious communities on campus.
Veterans
RIT supports active duty military, veterans, and their dependents with the attention and services they deserve. Veterans and dependents can receive military benefits from a range of educational benefit programs. RIT’s Veteran’s Services Office connects service members and their families to resources, support, services, and more.
Women of Color, Honor, and Ambition
WOCHA is a one-year program available for all female undergraduate students in their second to fifth years of study, with an emphasis on women of color. Its goals are to provide women with opportunities to build their leadership abilities and gain access to professional mentorship and networking opportunities.
Women in Engineering, or [email protected], is an organization in Kate Gleason College of Engineering dedicated to expanding the representation of women engineers and preparing women for leadership roles in the engineering field. [email protected] hosts numerous engineering career-focused events and programs every year, which are attended by hundreds of women engineering students.
Women in Technology is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in the technical fields and programs offered in the College of Engineering Technology. Students involved in WIT participate in K-12 outreach programs to Rochester area middle and high schools. They also host an overnight immersion event for prospective college students who have been offered acceptance to an engineering technology program.
Based in the College of Science, WISe organizes outreach programs to inspire girls of all ages to become the next generation of women scientists. The group offers services and resources, organizes events, and plans activities designed to engage women studying in the sciences.
Through professional, leadership, mentorship, and technical development opportunities, WiC encourages the advancement of women and all gender minorities in computing. The group sponsors WiCHacks, a hackathon for female and nonbinary computing students, as well as K-12 outreach and an overnight event for women who have been accepted into RIT computing majors.
SWE is a national organization dedicated to helping women reach their full potential in engineering and leadership positions. RIT’s SWE chapter assists students in developing and building their leadership and professional skills through events, local and national conferences, volunteering, and more.
RIT’s Saunders College of Business helps to meet the growing demand for women in business disciplines. The college's history includes three women deans, beginning with the naming of our first dean Edwina Hogadone. She was the first woman in the nation named dean of a college of business. Our Women in Business organization connects women business majors with networking and outreach opportunities as well as support services to help them excel in business.
Diversity and Inclusion News
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December 22, 2021
![Saunders College of Business Building]()
Saunders Faculty and Staff Go Above and Beyond
Saunders College of Business recognizes the accomplishments of its outstanding employees.
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December 21, 2021
![Front of Saunders College of Business]()
Accomplishments from Saunders Students
At Saunders College of Business, students are always on to something amazing, even before graduating! If you are a student at Saunders College and have exciting news to share, email [email protected].
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December 16, 2021
![children in the Philippines looking at two laptop computers.]()
RIT/NTID multilingual platform World Around You earns 2022 Zero Project award
World Around You, a multilingual platform created by a team at NTID, is a Zero Project 2022 award recipient for its work to improve accessibility. The platform is one of only 76 awardees from 35 countries for the Innovative Practices and Policies prizes.
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December 15, 2021
![side-by-side portraits of Andy Head and Jill Bradbury.]()
Podcast: Making the Performing Arts Inclusive and Accessible
Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 54: Jill Bradbury, chair of the Department of Performing Arts in RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Andy Head, assistant professor in the Department of Performing Arts in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, discuss what the recent collaboration between the theater departments of NTID and CLA will mean, including more inclusive and accessible theater experiences for audience members with varying disabilities.
