Office of Diversity and Inclusion - Glossary of Diversity Terminology
At-Risk describes students or groups of students who are considered to have a higher probability of struggling academically or dropping out of school due to coming from social conditions that haven't prepared them adequately or serve as hurdles in their way to success. Some challenges that at-risk students may face include poverty, homelessness, serious health issues, domestic violence, transiency, or learning disabilities.
Bias Incident is an intentional or unintentional act targeted at a person, group, or property expressing hostility on the basis of perceived or actual gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Bias incidents may consist of name-calling, epithets, slurs, degrading language, graffiti, intimidation, coercion, or harassment directed toward the targeted person or group. Acts qualify as bias acts even when delivered with humorous intent or presented as a joke or a prank.
Cultural Competency is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. Underlying cultural competence are the principles of trust, respect for diversity, equity, fairness, and social justice.
Cultural Proficiency is the set of values and behaviors in an individual, or the set of policies and practices in an organization, that creates the appropriate mindset and approach to respond effectively to the issues that result from diversity.
Discrimination is the intentional and often historical prejudicial treatment of individuals or groups of people using interpersonal, institutional or cultural means.
Diversity comprises the individual and group differences and similarities (e.g. values, personality, ability, race/ethnicity, culture, gender, gender identity, faith, socio-economic status, rank, and sexual orientation that all people carry with them into the Xavier community.
Implicit Bias occurs when subtle negative attitudes about groups of people (e.g. stereotypes) exist without conscious awareness. Nonetheless, they are pervasive and everyone possesses them regardless of a person's good intentions. Implicit biases tend to manifest into negative, unjust, or harmful behaviors against individuals and groups.
Inclusion is the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement within the campus community to create a culture in which we treat each other with respect and take action to maximize the potential of all community members.
Inclusive Excellence is the recognition that a community or institution's success is dependent on how well it values, engages, and includes the rich diversity of students, staff, faculty, administrators and alumni constituents.
LGBTQIA+ refers to a large group of people who represent and express a diverse range of gender identities and sexual identities that exist outside of the male-female binary. They can define themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual.
Marginalized groups are sub-communities socially excluded from participating in the routine and mainstream activities of a society. They often are confined to the lower or peripheral edge of a society thereby lacking access to employment, affordable formal education, healthcare, and social power, which often results in income discrepancies.
Minority groups refer to categories of people who are differentiated from a social majority due to having less social power. They can sometimes be underrepresented in particular majors, careers, or societies but can also be in majority numerically and yet lack social power or the ability to influence. Historically, minority is often associated with people of color (e.g. Asians, Latinos, and Blacks) but it actually can be applied to other identities like gender, sexuality, and religion.
People/Students of Color refer to a large group of racially and ethnically diverse people/ students from various origins. Students who self-identify or are identified as Black/African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American/Alaska, Native/Indigenous, Chicano/Latina/o/x, Arab/Arab American, or multiracial may be represented by this term. People of color is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to represent persons whose ethnic/racial and cultural groups have been targets of racism and/or are excluded from privileges associated with whiteness.
Supplier Diversity is a proactive business program that encourages the use of Black, Latino/a, Asian, Native American, women, veteran, disability, and LGBTQ-owned businesses.
Underrepresented groups are subsets of a population that hold a historically smaller percentage of representation in a field or institution. Examples are the small representation of students and employees who are women, African American, and Latina/o in STEM fields, or men in Social Work or Nursing fields. At Xavier, examples of underrepresented groups include students from low-income families, first-generation students, Asian students at the undergraduate level, and students of color in particular graduate programs.
Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan Acronyms
CICE Center for Interfaith Community Engagement
OIDI Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
SET Senior Executive Team
CTE Center for Teaching Excellence
CDI Center for Diversity and Inclusion
CFJ Center for Faith and Justice
CIE Center for International Education
EMSS Enrollment Management and Student Success
GDST Gender and Diversity Studies
SGA Student Government Association
OSI Office of Student Involvement
UPRC University Planning and Resource Council
HR Office of Human Resources
TRiO The student support services for first-generation, low-income and students with disabilities populations