Our commitment to making Berkeley Haas more inclusive
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are the most important topics on the Haas campus today, and I want to explain a little more about the action plandescribed on this page.
Recently Haas experienced a dramatic decrease in the number of African-American students enrolled in the Full-time Berkeley MBA Program. Haas did not respond quickly or urgently enough to this development, despite our students’ warning. Frankly, we weren’t questioning the status quo and living up to our Defining Leadership Principles.
In September, with the help and passionate insistence of our students and alumni, I gave the school’s leadership team a mandate: Create an action plan of things we can do right now and in the future to fix the problem. For 30 days, our top leaders met every morning, reviewing every aspect of the school and talking to all of its stakeholders to identify the systemic barriers that stand in the way of significant gains in the enrollment of African-American and other underrepresented minorities.
Our comprehensive strategy, which I encourage you to read at haas.org/dei-action-plan, seeks to increase the diversity of our student body, faculty, and staff. It also offers steps to provide a more inclusive and welcoming environment at the Haas School. We are committed to developing leaderswho stand out, who are values-driven, who are intensely curious, who live up to our Defining Leadership Principles, and who are inclusive. Nothing less is acceptable to us.
I pledge to work with the School’s leadership team, with alumni, and with our students to make sure that Haas reflects the diverse and inclusive world in which we want to live. I invite you to join me in helping Berkeley Haas achieve this goal.
Sincerely,
Laura D’Andrea Tyson
Interim Dean, Berkeley Haas