We Are Diverse and Open-Minded
Committed to the Success and Wellbeing of Every Individual
A long-standing commitment to social progress and social justice, a reverence for varied perspectives, and a drive for inclusive excellence are central to our values at UMass Amherst.
As a public land-grant institution, UMass Amherst has a responsibility to provide access and opportunities for all people. We foster a community of mutual respect by striving for a safe, progressive, and understanding campus for everyone. We believe that a culturally diverse campus is integral to academic excellence and that our students, faculty, and staff should reflect the diverse world in which we live. We draw from and support diverse experiences as an essential strength of the learning community and accept and instill an ongoing commitment to a more just world.
You belong at UMass Amherst. Your voice, experiences, and background form our community and shape our vision of a better tomorrow.
Guiding Us Forward
The Office of Equity, and Inclusion guides UMass Amherst’s efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion through programming and resources for students, faculty, staff, and the community.
With our large and diverse population of students, faculty, and staff, UMass Amherst is committed to building a community where every individual feels a sense of belonging. With the launch of the Belonging@UMass initiative, partners across campus work to foster a university community defined by equity and inclusion, where everyone experiences a sense of belonging and we can ensure all voices are heard.
We embrace disability as a natural part of diversity and seek to build capacity to appreciate and value individual differences, including differences in ability, to create inclusive community.
UMass Amherst is fully committed to providing full and equal access to information and services for all current and potential members of our community.
UMass ADVANCE transforms the campus by cultivating faculty equity, inclusion, and success. ADVANCE provides the resources, recognition, and relationship-building critical to equitable and successful collaboration in the 21st-century academy.
In 2021, UMass Amherst launched the Black Presence Project, designed to coordinate a series of actions to document and honor the contributions of Black students, faculty, and staff to the campus. Late professor John H. Bracey, Jr.—a founder of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies and preeminent scholar of Black history and the Black arts movement—played an important leadership role in the development of the Black Presence Project, overseeing efforts to record and archive the many impressive and enduring contributions of Black members to our UMass community. The Black Presence Project's living history website serves as a virtual home for the project while showcasing much of Bracey’s Black Presence archival work
Massachusetts holds a significant place in LGBTQ+ history as the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. As the commonwealth’s flagship campus, UMass Amherst’s own past is infused with important events that were driven by or affected the lives of the LGBTQ+ community on campus. The community has grown to be inclusive, safe, supportive, welcoming, and deeply informed by the lessons of history. Consistently rated among the best of the best universities for LGBTQ+ students, UMass offers meaningful programming, support, mentoring, and social opportunities.