The Cook Honors College aspires to be a diverse community of bright, ambitious students committed to developing the intellectual and emotional skills critical to achieving personal goals, moving our many communities collectively forward in positive ways, and making effective changes in the world.
Achieving this vision requires attention to our values and how we enact them. We affirm that:
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We seek to actively recruit, support, and nurture a diverse group of students and faculty. We want our community to reflect the wider world in which we all live and work, and we welcome students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, religions, regions, sexual orientations, gender identities, citizenship status, native languages, political affiliations, and gifts and abilities. We believe our differences enrich our honors community, pushing all of us to become more broad-minded and empathetic leaders in the world. More, we recognize that students from underrepresented and minority groups experience additional challenges that are often invisible to those in majority groups, and we believe our staff and faculty have the responsibility to all of our students to be trustworthy resources who are able to listen, respond, and refer students to the campus resources that can best help them succeed.
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We value free speech and a robust intellectual exchange of ideas. Our honors core seminars thrive on engaged, informed debate, and we recognize that the very process of education involves change in awareness, opinions, and behavior. Change is often accompanied by some level of disorientation and discomfort, and we believe we must create a safe space for that. We do not, however, condone language or behaviors from students, staff, or faculty that create harm. There is no place in the Cook Honors College for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, bigotry, or any type of exploitation or violence. We encourage students experiencing discrimination or violence to speak to a trusted advisor or counselor and/or contact IUP's Office of Social Equity and Title IX.
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We are all responsible for creating a safe, strong, and inclusive community of which we can all be proud. We encourage our students, staff, faculty, and alumni to share ideas and take actions that affirm and further our goals as we move forward.