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2007 EPIC Award Recipient

EXEMPLARY VOLUNTARY EFFORTS (EVE) AWARD honors federal contractors that have demonstrated through programs or activities, exemplary and innovative efforts to increase the employment opportunities of employees, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.

Founded in 1865, Cornell University is a privately endowed university and the federal land-grant institution of New York State. As a member of the Ivy League and a partner of the State University of New York, the university is comprised of seven undergraduate colleges, four graduate and professional colleges in Ithaca, a professional and medical school in New York City, and a medical school in Doha, Qatar.

Description of Innovative EEO Programs:

Cornell's commitment to addressing diversity and inclusiveness began at the university's inception, with the statement of co-founder Ezra Cornell in 1865: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."

Since its founding, the university has continued to be a "first" in addressing diversity and inclusiveness. In 1872, Cornell was one of the first co-educational institutions in the east; in 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was founded at Cornell, the first undergraduate African American fraternity; in 1916 at Cornell, the first Asian fraternity in the Ivy League was established; and in 1936, Cornell was the first university to award a Ph.D to an African American woman (Flemmie Kitrell).

Since 2000, Cornell University has innovatively addressed diversity and inclusiveness, focusing on each aspect of diversity with aggressive programming and incorporating work/life/family balance. The initiatives include:

1. Creation of an AAP that includes diversity and work/life considerations;
2. Establishment of a discrimination complaint procedure that includes a bias program and Title 9 procedure;
3. Addressing student diversity through completion of a diversity statement as part of the admissions process and a "Tapestry of Possibilities" diversity training as part of the new student orientation program;
4. Employee diversity training opportunities including on line training, diversity recruitment training, and a new supervisor program with a diversity module;
5. Work/life/family programming that incorporates diversity;
6. Increasing the university's outreach to the women and minority vendors and contractors;
7. Implementation of workplace accommodation programs for employees with disabilities.

The university's three diversity goals, as established by the provost, are:

1. To ensure faculty, staff, and students have access to the knowledge and conceptual frameworks required to think critically about human diversity.
2. To ensure that the community embraces and supports individuals from all racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation, class, and nationality groups in their chosen pursuits.
3. To enhance the diversity of the administration, faculty, staff, and students.

These goals are carried out by: 1) the established executive-level University Diversity Council, which is co-chaired by the president and the provost; 2) a working group diversity council that looks at strategies to address specific diversity issues; and 3) two central administrative offices; The Vice Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development and Workforce Diversity, Equity and Quality Life each focuses on academic and staff diversity respectively. In addition, all seven of the university's colleges have diversity offices and three of the university's graduate and professional schools have diversity office.

Commitment to Community Service:

Cornell's commitment to addressing diversity and inclusiveness and its commitment to working with the local community to address diversity is best reflected in its skilled trades diversity initiative. In 2000, Cornell recognized the shortage of women and minorities in the skilled trades within its own workforce and throughout the Upstate New York region, where the overall representation of women in the university's skilled trades was 5.29% and for minorities, 3.4%. In 2006, the representation of women increased to 9% and the representation of minorities increased to 6.6%. These results were achieved by the university's commitment to initiatives that address diversity. The university established a skilled trades diversity recruiter in 2001 who has worked to identify possible candidates for skilled trades positions at the university.