Diversity

At the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, we strive for a diverse and equitable community that fosters an open, enlightened, and robust learning environment. In order to create a vital community of learning, the academy must create an environment that cultivates diversity and celebrates difference.

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture is committed to creating a workplace in which all faculty, staff, and students are valued for their contributions to accomplishing the School's mission. We work daily to create an equitable and inclusive environment for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation, age, level of physical ability, citizenship status, or socioeconomic status.

"Underpinning all that we do at the School of Architecture is a deep commitment to diversity. It guides who we are, what we teach and research, and how we change our disciplines," said Dean Michelle Addington. "Our commitment to diversity goes beyond ensuring that there is equitable participation from under-represented populations; it enables us to open up new avenues of discourse and explore unprecedented opportunities as we bring more voices, more experiences, and more knowledge to bear."

In 2008, former Dean Fritz Steiner commissioned a Diversity Task Force with the charge of gathering feedback from students, faculty, and staff, presenting a report of its findings, and drafting a strategic plan (Framework for Diversity) for addressing diversity and equity within the School. In 2015, the Committee on Diversity + Equity [CODE], a school-wide committee, was formed resulting from this feedback as an ongoing commitment to achieving greater diversity and equity within each program and the school as a whole.

SPEAKER SERIES 

At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, the School of Architecture’s Committee on Diversity and Equity approved a proposal to fund and support a series of equity-focused events. The series, run by representatives from the Planning Student Organization and the Graduate School of Architecture Representative Council, encourages students to discuss, learn, and reflect on the ways in which racial injustice has manifested itself in the built environment and practitioners have confronted these truths through their personal and professional lives. 

In 2016, the school established an initiative to strengthen our teaching and research on the relationship between race and/or gender and the built environment. As part of the initiative, the school first established a rotating Fellow position, followed by a tenure-track faculty member who was hired in 2018, and a senior faculty member, hired in 2022. Partially funded by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, the program supports the school's exploration of critical and complex social issues in design and planning pedagogy and practice.