Diversity and Community

DIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT

Approved by the Board of Trustees on December 15, 2016

University Prep's mission compels us to train and educate the next generation of leaders who will create impact and change in an interdependent, complex, and global community. Our students need to see, hear, and understand the diversity of people, perspectives and points of view around them and the world they will lead in the years ahead. Essential to this proposition is the ability of our students to identify, analyze, and act on issues of equity, justice, and inclusion. Our world demands it.

DIVERSITY VISION STATEMENT

University Prep is proud of its diverse learners, and plurality of cultures and backgrounds. By exposing our students, faculty, and staff to different perspectives in their everyday learning, our community members become more intellectually courageous, better understand their own identities and the identities of others, and become socially responsible contributors. We aspire to be a diverse, inclusive, and equitable educational community that creates and sustains a shared sense of belonging and mutual respect. We seek to instill students with a sense of creativity and intellectual courage, preparing them to be champions of social justice and effective citizens in a globalized world.

DIVERSITY STRATEGIC PLAN

In 2018, the school adopted its first diversity strategic plan, with initiatives in three areas. In program and curriculum, goals include integrating diversity and inclusion into the school curriculum, enhancing professional development in those areas, and graduating culturally competent student leaders. In recruitment and retention, the school aims to implement a plan to increase the diversity of the student body as well as the faculty and staff, and to retain them in the long term. And finally, in the area of academic performance, the goal is to reduce any disparities in academic performance in underrepresented students of color.

Diversity Strategic Plan (PDF)

DIVERSITY PROGRAMS

We support our mission by creating experiences for our students to come face-to-face with the issues playing out in society and by allowing them the room to grow in their own identity development. From our annual Social Justice Day to classroom assignments, equity, justice, and inclusion are embedded in all that we do. Our monthly Community Conversations in the Upper School, led by student facilitators, offer a regular forum to embrace and confront challenging issues.


The Diversity and Community Office is centered in the middle of our school, making a strong statement to our school community, guests, and visitors. The office provides a safe space for students to have discussions, study groups, or club meetings. Clubs include:

  • Asian, Pacific Islander Union
  • Black Student Union
  • Facilitators
  • Gender and Sexuality Alliance
  • Gender Equity Club
  • Latinx
  • Umbrella
  • White Allies
  • YARD: Youth Against Racial Discrimination
The school's commitment to community and diversity is most apparent in its continued investment in the growth and empowerment of students and teachers. I've been here for seven years, and it's been truly amazing to be able to see a change in the inclusivity and collective awareness of our community in that time." UPrep Senior