From its inception, Wellesley recognized the value of diversity and inclusion. Founders Pauline and Henry Durant believed Wellesley could be a place where students from across the economic divide could live and learn together. Beyond their conviction that this would benefit our students, the Durants believed this would lead to a more democratic society.

Almost 150 years later, as we meet 21st-century challenges, Wellesley remains faithful to the values that helped us become the preeminent liberal arts college for women. Today, we are embracing the idea that true excellence requires equity, inclusion, and intellectual openness at all levels of learning and in all aspects of community—from our academic program to our students’ experience of campus life.

多年来，我们从所有背景都建立了一个强大的，不同的才能学生的社区。考虑到近25％来自不足的群体;18％是第一代大学生。

但we must do more.

Studies confirm what we instinctively know: Diverse environments lead to positive academic development, enhance students’ social-cognitive skills, and contribute to greater civic involvement. We must move forward, based on data, to seed broad institutional change across all aspects of the Wellesley experience—in the classrooms and labs, in student peer groups, and throughout residence life. These changes will break down barriers and promote the success of all of our students in new and effective ways—and at the same time, maintain the most rigorous standards for a liberal arts education.

First, we are working hard to increase the economic diversity of our student body and to make all students feel they belong within our residential community and equally within our community of scholars.

Our need-blind admission policy allows us to admit students based on their skills, abilities, and promise—not on their financial situation. Although the纽约时报'最近的大学访问指数在学生的经济多样性中排名Wellesley，我们知道我们的60％的学生来自20％的收入括号中的家庭，底部只有6％。因此，我们继续创新：Wellesley的MyIntuition在线成本估算器正在帮助提高低收入和中等收入学生的应用，并且使用该工具正在遍布全国各地的其他学院。我们继续与POSSE和其他人这样的群体的重要伙伴关系，他们帮助美国注册了来自不足的团体的待办事业申请人。（看“How I Got to Wellesley.”)

Second, we are devising and implementing ways to ensure the success of all of our students. For example: Two professors founded a successful campus initiative that supports underrepresented students through faculty mentoring and collaborative problem solving during small group work. Similarly, Wellesley’s First Generation Network has paired students with faculty from similar backgrounds to learn strategies for success.

第三，我们正在扩大教师文化和观点的多样性，向学术管道增添更多特殊的学生。刚刚秋天，Wellesley被授予McNair Postbaccalaureate成就计划补助金。超过1600万美元的赠款将有助于低收入学生，第一代大学生和来自不足的少数群体的学生追求博士学位，以便为学院的职业做准备。这是我们近三十年的令人兴奋的补充，通过提供Mellon Mays本科团契，这是一个具有相似目标的程序。与这些努力在一起，这是我们自己的家伙，从不同的背景中茁壮成长。

These are just a few areas of focus in what will be a major initiative that will move us beyond a desire to simply change attitudes. We will use data to identify inequities in experience and begin to reshape the structural barriers that require our attention. Efforts will reach across campus, from culturally inclusive counseling services and career education to pedagogical innovation and intercultural education, to inclusion and equity as fundamental aspects of student life.

Just as the Durants saw diversity and inclusion as a path to broader, larger goals, today we know all that’s gained by making Wellesley a truly equitable, welcoming place: Ever more talented and intelligent young women from all walks of life will come to Wellesley to unleash their potential. By embracing the full diversity of每一个学生，Wellesley的创始价值观将居住，但承诺增强了卓越和智力成就的增强级 - 我们最好的Wellesley。