Press Release

Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760 ext. 422
Humphreys@aacu.org

Hewlett Foundation Supports AAC&U's National Initiative

Two-Year Project Will Include A Faculty Development Institute, "Boundaries and Borderlands: The Search for Recognition and Community in America, July 13-23, 2000

Washington DC—September 29, 1999—A two-year grant to support faculty and curriculum development on issues of diversity was awarded to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The project, "Boundaries and Borderlands: The Search for Recognition and Community," builds on AAC&U's ground breaking work in diversity and faculty capacity building from the American Commitments initiative launched in 1993. The Hewlett Foundation has funded American Commitments as part of its ongoing initiative "Pluralism and Unity." The project, involving over 400 institutions and scores of faculty, has created a series of diversity publications widely used by campuses, an expansive Web site, DiversityWeb (www.diversityweb.org), and a quarterly newsletter, Diversity Digest, distributed to some 14,000 educators, media and opinion leaders.

With support from the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), American Commitments sponsored two earlier 10-day summer faculty development institutes on which this current project is modeled. This new effort is targeted towards faculty and staff at institutions which have received grants as part of Hewlett's Pluralism andUnity initiative, but will also be open to any college or university with a proven record of supporting curricular transformation and diversity initiatives. This new effort will also make AAC&U's expanding pool of diversity resources available to a new cohort of faculty members and institutions.

"Respecting differences and valuing inclusion is at the heart of this initiative," says Hewlett Program Officer Raymond Bachetti. "AAC&U has taken the lead in making these twin goals national priorities for faculty capacity building and institutional renewal. Hewlett is proud to join their efforts with ours as we work to build campus leaders."

Boundaries and Borderlands will deepen and expand the pluralism and unity national network in multiple ways. A new curriculum, created to inform curricular and co-curricular campus work about diversity, democracy and intergroup dialogues, will be offered to 200 faculty and staff at a ten-day summer institute July 13-23, 2000. Institute participants will be networked before and after the institute via a national listserv. Several on-line town meetings offered via DiversityWeb will also keep participants linked. Applications to participate in the project will be available in September andwill be due December 1, 1999. Call for Proposals and application forms can be obtained from the AAC&U Web site (www.aacu.org).

Founded in 1915, AAC&U is an institutional membership association with a primary mission of improving undergraduate liberal education. more than 1000 members servicing more than four million students throughout higher education are represented in AAC&U's membership.