Denison Forward Plan

The Denison Forward Plan engages the diverse talents and knowledge of our faculty and staff from across the college to foster a culture of belonging and flourishing for every member of our campus community. By design, the plan is a comprehensive, evolving, multi-year, campus-wide plan for action and change.

The mission of Denison University is “to inspire and educate our students to become autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents, and active citizens of a democratic society. Through an emphasis on active learning, we engage students in the liberal arts, which fosters self-determination and demonstrates the transformative power of education. We envision our students’ lives as based upon rational choice, a firm belief in human dignity and compassion unlimited by cultural, racial, sexual, religious or economic barriers, and directed toward an engagement with the central issues of our time.”

We remain committed to the transformative power of a challenging and relational liberal arts education and the many benefits it has for our community. A Denison education exposes students to innovative ideas, as well as different ways of understanding the world. Creating a diverse living, learning, and working environment enables students, faculty, and staff to experience different life experiences and evolving identities within our community, increasing our understanding and empathy. At Denison, we all treat one another with dignity and respect. Each member of our community adds value and possesses a full range of rights and responsibilities.

Historical Context

Denison University holds a distinct space in the American higher education landscape. Denison was one of the first colleges established in the Northwest Territory, a region of the country with its own long and complex history as it relates to race and ethnicity. The college achieved great success during its early years, as the United States was undergoing fast growth as a nation. During this time, many Denisonians were heavily involved in the anti-slavery movement and supported women’s education. By the Civil War, men and women (although white) were being integrated into the classroom. In 1970, Denison was one of the first colleges in the country to establish both a Black Student Union and a Black Studies Program, and our student body slowly began to become more diverse.

Principles

Since we launched Denison Forward, four interconnected commitments have emerged:

Diverse: Cultivate a community rich in diversity (e.g., economic, cultural, and intellectual) that recognizes that the interplay of varied backgrounds, viewpoints, identities, and experiences is essential to the education of our students and the work of our faculty.
Welcoming: Create a campus culture where everyone feels welcomed from their first day on campus, recognizing that this is everyone’s responsibility.
Belonging: Ensure that every member of our community feels listened to, valued, and respected and is an essential part of our campus.
Flourishing: Foster a supportive environment where everyone has the tools and encouragement to do their best work and build the lives they aspire to live.

The next phase of our work is focused on four areas that cut across the college:

Measurement: Developing an instrument that will allow us to measure and understand the experiences of different groups across our campus.
Onboarding: Revamping how we onboard students, faculty, and staff into Denison to ensure that everybody is welcomed into the community and set up for success.
Problem-Solving: Creating better ways to respond to specific gaps and issues that prevent some community members from feeling a sense of belonging and flourishing.
Skills Building: Developing the capacity to engage different perspectives, navigate complex social and cultural contexts, and build pluralistic communities where everybody can thrive.

Implementation Team

To do this work, we have established a cross-functional team. The team is not charged with doing the work but rather making sure that every unit across the college is doing its part to ensure that the entire college is moving forward.