Marquette University
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Marquette University, in accordance with its Jesuit tradition and Guiding Values, is committed to fostering a diverse community of outstanding faculty, staff, and students, as well as ensuring equal educational opportunity, employment, and access to services, programs, and activities, without regard to an individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristic, or military status. Employees, students, applicants or other members of the University community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) may not be subjected to harassment that is prohibited by law, or treated adversely or retaliated against based upon a protected characteristic.

https://www.marquette.edu/tools/non-discrimination.php

Bias Incidents

A bias incident is any discriminatory or hurtful act that appears to be motivated or is perceived by the victim or victims to be motivated by race, ethnicity, religion, age, national origin, sex, ability, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran status, socioeconomic status or language. To be considered a bias incident, the act is not required to be a crime under any federal, state or local statutes. Colleges and universities may handle bias incidents through grievance procedures, such as the student conduct process, or through educational programs to enhance awareness and enable prevention of such acts. Please see Marquette’s Grievance Policy and the Online Student Handbook, At Marquette, for further information.

Reporting Options

If you have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, there are several ways to submit a report:

You can use the online report form that is available. Once you have completed and submitted the online form, you will be contacted by a member of the Marquette community who serves as a representative of the Bias Report and Support System Team.

The Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) reaches out to campus community members impacted by reported bias incidents within 36 hours of receiving the report. BIRT team members gather additional information about the incident, and offer support and referral to other campus resources as necessary (counseling center, CARE team, instructors, residence life staff, etc). Depending on needs, the BIRT team may offer additional follow up directly with the impacted person. Beyond providing support to the impacted or reporting individual(s), the BIRT team escalates concerns to Human Resources if the report involves a faculty or staff member and is involved in follow-up conversations, as necessary, to address the concern. If the report involves another student, the BIRT team can meet with that student, address concerns, and make referrals to student conduct if necessary.

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https://www.marquette.edu/student-affairs/bias-incidents.php

- On-site admissions events at 11 local Milwaukee Public Schools high schools. This is a special process for them to hear of their admission decision early and have in-person interactions at their high school.
- National Partner with Cristo Rey Network. We have a specific recruitment plan and events for high schools within this network.
- Cristo Rey Summer Leadership Academy and Summer Leadership Institute. Summer programs for rising seniors to stay on campus and engage in leadership work.
- Small, special events for local, underrepresented students. These opportunities include essay workshops for target high schools in the area, tickets for basketball games, events for MPS admitted students, etc.
- Mi Casa es Tu Casa. On campus event in the spring for admitted students who identify as Hispanic or Latino. Programming and speakers are offered in Spanish.
- Breakfast programs with community-based organizations in Milwaukee prior to 4 Discovery Days Open House events held throughout the year.
- Group visits offered for high school groups and community-based organizations 3 times per week. This includes an admissions presentation and campus tour.
- Admitted student event for first generation and underrepresented students taking place on Admitted Student Day weekend. Travel support may be provided to students to attend.
- Admitted student travel support. New this year, we are offering to cover flights and a hotel stay for them to visit campus. We have specifically targeted strong tertiary markets, but also admitted students from Cristo Rey schools outside of WI/IL.
- Representation of underrepresented current students in admissions programming. We have a group of 17 Community Ambassadors who specifically work with this population through on and off-campus visits. We also have promotion and hiring strategies for underrepresented students in our Tour Guide and Front Desk staff positions.

Many "supported" programs exist, such as EOP, Urban Scholars, Burke Scholars, Opus Scholars, and near-peer mentoring through RISE and Honors.

The Office of Faculty Affairs provides leadership and mentoring support to faculty, with a focus on new faculty, and special attention to URM faculty. Also, faculty are able to join Employee Resource Groups

https://www.marquette.edu/diversity/employee-resource-groups.php

In 2002, Marquette established the Arnold L. Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship Program, intended to increase the presence of underrepresented ethnic groups by supporting doctoral candidates in completing their final academic requirement, the dissertation.

The fellowship provides a student from other U.S. universities with one year of financial support, including a stipend, fringe benefits, and research and travel funds. The fellow will be in residence at Marquette for an academic year, during which the recipient will teach one course in his or her area of specialization while completing his or her dissertation. The recipient will also participate in a formal mentoring program.