Pitzer College
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Testimonios 2004: Campus Climate at Pitzer College The objective of compiling these testimonios is to establish a written record of the nature of the campus climate for Pitzer students on the Pitzer campus and at the Claremont Colleges. We are interested in developing a sense of the range of experiences that students and faculty have experienced, both positive and negative. Negative events ranged from those that are illegal (hate crime, sexual harassment, date rape, etc.) and physically threatening or explicitly hurtful (racist, sexist, homophobic, or religious slurs and intimidation, etc.) to more subtle experiences that occur on an everyday basis. Positive events ranged from deep experiences of belonging and solidarity to simple feelings of being at home to having successful educational experiences in classrooms. The report centers on the perspectives of students and faculty from groups that have historically been underrepresented and marginalized in U.S. society to explore how they experience the campus climate. This report offers Pitzer College a chance to hear from members of non-dominant groups at the college about their experiences on campus. We encourage the college community to listen respectfully to their experiences, both positive and negative, for how they can help us better understand what life at Pitzer is like for group members different from our own. A lack of understanding can at times lead to interactions that are insulting, offensive, intimidating, inadvertently hurtful, and even threatening to students who see their experiences differently than do members of other groups. Hearing from the experiences in this report may help us deepen our commitment and strengthen our analysis of how to improve the conditions at Pitzer for all community members. The focus of the report is on the overall campus climate that these students have found during their years of study at Pitzer, rather than on any individual particular encounter. Through informed dialogue and systematic proactive responses, Pitzer may find ways to build trust and sustain positive working relationships across differences in ways that the present climate does not allow. Our hope is that the report will deepen our understanding of what life at Pitzer is like for these students and faculty. We hope that the report will help us work to bring our campus climate more closely in alignment with our stated mission and goals as an educational institution. Pitzer College also administers the National Survey of Student Engagement annually to assess student experiences and levels of engagement with students, faculty, and staff that come from different races/ethnicities, social classes, and genders than their own. During the 2015-16 academic year, Pitzer College will be conducting focus groups with the various stakeholder groups to explore the intersections of race, class, and gender as they relate to the overall campus climate.

Pitzer College does disaggregate data related to retention, persistence, and graduation to examine differences by race and gender across degree programs. During the 2015-16 academic year, the College will examine the retention, persistence, and graduation rates of low-income and students who are the first in their families to attend college.