Office of Inclusive Excellence

Hamline University is dedicated to intellectual inquiry in its full depth, breadth, abundance, and diversity. It is committed to academic freedom and celebrates free expression for everyone. The University embraces the examination of all ideas, some of which will potentially be unpopular and unsettling, as an integral and robust component of intellectual inquiry. It is expected that the expression of ideas will be done in ways that are respectful of others and which do not include personal vilification based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, appearance, disability or political affiliation. Hamline University encourages all, whether it be on campus or off, to foster a respectful, and inclusive community defined by a concern for the common good, by developing relationships and through a culture that promotes the rights, safety, dignity, and value of every individual. A university community embracing these common values, consisting of students, faculty, staff, the Board of Trustees, and external constituents, is vital to the pursuit of excellence in research, scholarship, and creative activity.

Strategic goals

Training, learning, and development

Members of the Hamline community will demonstrate cultural competency by learning key concepts that will address and reduce bias; foster equity, inclusion, and diversity; and equip individuals to lead change on campus and in a changing world.

Metrics and evaluation

Hamline will develop and practice protocols that measure and evaluate equity, inclusion, and diversity progress. These protocols will create expectations throughout the institution, maintain specific standards of practice, and promote a culture of engagement.

Campus climate, culture, and community

Hamline will develop a campus climate and culture where all community members feel welcome and supported, and experience a sense of belonging. This overall well-being will be tangible through authentic, respectful, and engaged relationships.

Hamline University's land acknowledgment

Hamline University acknowledges that the land on which we gather and refer to as Minnesota is the traditional and unceded territory of the Dakota and Ojibwe. Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for this region Mni Sota Makoce, “the land where the waters reflect the skies.” We pay respect to the citizens of not only those tribes, but others as well, both past and present, and their continuing relationship to their ancestral lands. Making this recognition expresses gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory we reside on and honors the Indigenous people who have been existing with, and on, the land from time immemorial. This long-standing history is significant as land acknowledgments do not exist in past tense or historical context—colonialism, appropriation, and genocide have relevant real-time realities. We need to build mindfulness regarding the source of our present land privilege, understand the long-standing history from which it comes, and seek to reconcile our place within both.

Hamline, as an institution and community, will hold itself accountable as an Indigenous partner by working stridently to amplify, address, and counter the historical and contemporary injustices that continue to impact Indigenous people—individually, systemically, and structurally.