DU Receives ASEE Bronze Award for Diversity Recognition

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) recently recognized the Ritchie School of Engineering & Computer Science for being a top school in their Diversity Recognition Program with the Bronze Award. This award means that DU made a pledge (and acted on it) to actively include and support historically underrepresented groups such as "First Generation, Women, Underrepresented Minorities, Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ), and Persons with Disabilities.” Professor and Director of Inclusive Excellence Scott Leutenegger, PhD, said “being awarded the ASEE Bronze award is acknowledgment that we have started down a path toward doing our part to creating a more just world.”

To be considered for this award a school must demonstrate an in-depth strategy on how it plans to address diversity and equity among students and faculty. Additionally, the dean must sign a diversity pledge promising to enact on plans for inclusion. Associate Dean Breigh Roszelle, PhD, is proud of this accomplishment, adding “we are committed to being on a path that leads toward a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment for our RSECS community. This also means that we have additional work to do, as this is a job that is never ‘finished.’”

With these first steps having been taken, DU is on a path toward a more diverse future for our STEM community. This is an honorable award to receive, and as students, faculty members, or members of the DU community, we can be proud to say that our school actively works toward building an all-inclusive and safe learning environment for people of all backgrounds and identities. Leutenegger added, “[This] award acknowledges a beginning, a beginning of helping to dismantle systematic racism and sexism through inclusive engineering and computing.”