Executive Summary

In late Fall 2000, the newly appointed Director of the Multicultural Resource Center was asked to serve as chair of the Building An Inclusive University Community Steering Committee (BIUC). A January 2001 retreat was organized by the BIUC chair and facilitated by the Center for Quality with the intent of reviewing the BIUC mission statement in order to discuss the need for a new charge given the organizational changes; Office of Affirmative Action separated from University Ombudsman, and the role of the Multicultural Resource Center as part of the Framework for Implementing BU's Diversity Initiatives .

The primary action plan that ensued from the January 2001 retreat included recommendations for the creation of a partnership between the Affirmative Action Office (AAO) and the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) so that a new university-wide diversity committee could be created to carry on the stewardship the BIUC Steering Committee had dutifully landmarked.

Taking their charge from the Office of Civil Rights' requested Framework for Implementing Binghamton University's Strategic Objectives for Diversity , the Director of AAO and MRC set goals to develop a proactive council that would: contain members from the five university divisions and elected student leaders so as to have all campus stakeholders involved; and take its formal charge and direction from the University's leadership.