The recent news involving the tragic suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi has dominated discussions in the news media and in campus communities around the country.
At DU, the event underscores the importance of the need of every student, staff and faculty member to respect each other’s differences and foster a culture of inclusiveness and tolerance. According to a recent message to the DU community from Chancellor Robert Coombe, the University is fully committed to an active engagement of all its community members.
“Our diversity of perspectives, experiences, and identities is not just tolerated at DU, it is celebrated as creating the intellectual vibrancy that is fundamental to the University’s mission,” Coombe says.
One of the ways the University seeks to do this is through the Student Honor Code, which binds each student to ethical behavior and the results for noncompliance with school policy.
DU’s Health and Counseling Center provides professional counseling services to students, faculty and staff. The center provides a range of services for students experiencing stress, homesickness, career decisions relationship problems, eating disorders, trauma, depression, anxiety disorders as well as LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and Questioning) related issues. The center is located on the third floor of the Ritchie Center and can be reached at 303-871-3853.
DU is made up of diverse communities that contribute to the vitality of the campus and contribute significantly to inclusive excellence, says Tracey Adams-Peters, director of the DU’s Center for Multicultural Excellence.
“Our success as an institution depends on how well we value, engage and include the rich variety of diversity of our campus community and the valuable social and cultural dimensions each individual brings to the table,” she says. “This includes race, ethnicity, culture, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation.”
The center provides resources, support, training and workshops that focus on inclusiveness. For example, in recognition of GLBT History Month in October, the center will host several events and programs during the month in collaboration with other departments across campus and in the Denver community. For more information about LGBTIQ & Ally specific programs and campus organizations, including Queer & Ally (Q&A) trainings, visit www.du.edu/lgbtiqa.
Anyone involved in an emergency or a life-threatening situation should call 911 or contact Campus Safety at 1-2334 (on-campus), 303-871-2334 (off-campus) or by picking up any of the emergency security phones located throughout the campus. Campus Safety is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.