Kalamazoo College
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Nondiscrimination Policy: An equal opportunity employer, Kalamazoo College is committed to equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal protection under the law. The College administers its programs, activities, and services without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, height, weight, marital status, familial status, physical disability as protected by law, or sexual orientation. The College’s definition of sexual orientation proscribes discrimination based on a person’s, sexuality, or gender identity, actual or presumed.

In an effort to better understand the ways in which community members experience the campus, a pilot Bias Data Gathering System (BDGS) has been developed. The goal of the BDGS is to gather information about the state of the K community, specifically as it relates to bias. The intention of the pilot program is to collect information that will inform campus practices and policies.

The College’s working definition of bias for the pilot BDGS is a preconceived negative preference, inclination, or attitude about groups of people, often based on physical, cultural, religious, or social identities. The term ‘bias related’ refers to language and/or behaviors that demonstrate bias against persons because of, but not limited to, their actual or perceived identities. Examples may include defacement of posters or signs, intimidating comments or messages, vandalism to personal or university property, or similar acts, if there is evidence that the target or victim was chosen because of a characteristic such as those listed above.

The College has various programs meant to recruit students from underrepresented groups. A standout program that Kalamazoo College partners with is the Posse Foundation, an American nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to selected "Posse Scholars" These "Posse Scholars" are public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, but who come from groups that are underrepresented in American higher education and are often overlooked by traditional college selection processes.

The Intercultural Center (IC) is located inside Hicks Student Center (Hicks 110).

Priorities for the Intercultural Center include being:
- a place with a focus on students who have experienced marginalization that is welcoming to all students
- a place where students can have a sense of refuge, where they can simply “be”
- a place, among others on campus, that will support broader intercultural education and programming work
- a gathering place

The College hopes discussions and programs from the Intercultural Center help unpack important ideas which are not always well-understood, including various “isms” as structural artifacts and behavioral realities, systems of privilege, intercultural awareness, individual actions and behaviors which foster or work against inclusion, and ways to be effective allies with others are a few examples.