Office of the President

Statement from President David E. Daniel regarding UT Dallas Values: Diversity and Openness

“Early Thursday several students on our campus encountered an incident of what appears to be simple-minded bigotry.  A sign – so crude we can’t be sure of its true target – was posted on their residence door.  UT Dallas police are investigating, and the students are receiving the support of our housing office and the student life staff.

“UT Dallas categorically rejects any behavior or statement that would cause anyone to feel unwelcomed here because of their religion, their race, or their ethnicity.  And, in fact, these three aspects of individual identity only begin to describe diversity as it is defined and enthusiastically embraced on this campus.  Diversity encompasses the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance.  Such differences include not only race, ethnicity, gender, and religion, but also age, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, and more.

“Commitment to diversity is not merely a matter of public relations.  The creation of knowledge – the creation of the future we will all share – requires intellectual and philosophical testing that is best created by diversity in thought and ideas.  The world is increasingly interconnected and diverse, and to succeed we must appreciate and celebrate the richness of our differences.  The best way of doing this is to consider as many perspectives as possible.  Unless we are diverse, we are not as good as we can be.”