Our Commitment

President Joseph E. Aoun has outlined the following series of actionable steps to advance justice and cultural literacy throughout our university community and to help end systemic racism.

The Addition of an NUPD Advisory Board

The board’s mission is to guide, inform, and strengthen NUPD’s relationship with the community—both within and outside Northeastern.

Elevation of the Presidential Council on Diversity and Inclusion

The council, formed in 2013, has been charged with finding new opportunities for Northeastern to become more diverse, inclusive, and equitable, and to advance the cause of racial justice.

Racial and Cultural Literacy Training

This series of online training modules, which are mandatory for all members of the Northeastern community, provide tools to better understand diversity and to address racism and other systemic inequities in our community.

Read the full plan

Ideas, Action, Change

Northeastern has long been focused on raising awareness and creating change toward a more equitable and socially just world.

John D. O’Bryant African American Institute

Supporting students of African origin and engaging the broader university community in developing student leaders.

Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project

Helping scholars, policymakers, and organizers seek justice for civil rights crimes committed during the period of 1930 to 1970.

Center on Crime and Community Resilience

Finding innovative, research-based policy solutions to crime and other urban social problems.

Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy

Developing and implementing policies to improve the quality of life and social justice in urban areas.

Institute on Race and Justice

Providing critical research to influence issues of race and inequality in the criminal justice and education systems.

Strategic Advancement of Rising Scholars (STARS) Fellowship

Offering funding and support to help underrepresented students of color pursue PhDs and careers in STEM.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

This Northeastern office promotes the university’s commitment to equal opportunity, affirmative action, diversity, and social justice while building a climate of inclusion throughout our campuses.

Learn More

Every day our students, faculty, staff, and alumni put ideas into action to build a more inclusive and equitable community. It’s important to share our stories and support one other in this commitment.

Northeastern celebrates life, legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The university’s annual celebration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. was held on Jan. 12 at East Village on the Boston campus. “A Tribute to the Dream” included remarks by Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo, former chief justice of Ghana, and a panel discussion with prominent Northeastern graduates, moderated by Richard Harris, associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Words—and tribal location—matter to citizen of Cherokee Nation

Ellen Cushman, a Cherokee citizen and the dean’s professor of civic sustainability and English in Northeastern’s College of Social Sciences and Humanities, says: “The story of the evolution of the Cherokee writing system is an important facet of Cherokee perseverance as a tribe and as a people.”

The Harriet Tubman House may be gone, but its legacy is preserved forever thanks to Northeastern’s library

A unique collaboration between Northeastern’s library, the Boston Public Library and community organizations aims to preserve, tell and share local histories and narratives that would have been lost to the past.