What is CEED?
The Center for Educational Equity and Diversity (CEED) was established to increase research and improve practice on issues of diversity and equity in the Walla Walla University (WWU) School of Education and Psychology (SEP). It is a center founded to interact with the public, both on the WWU campus and the greater Walla Walla Valley community.
The Walla Walla University administration, faculty, and staff are firmly dedicated to principles of equity in action (Maynard-Reid, 2010). The belief that we are all God’s children, created in His image, gives inestimable value and worth to every individual, no matter their race, gender, cultural or social background, and inherent intellectual or physical abilities. Therefore, the WWU-SEP is committed to fostering the unique gifts of each individual and celebrates their diversity (Dunzweiler et al., 2016, p. 3).
Who We Are
The faculty and staff of the WWU SEP bring unique backgrounds and research to CEED in areas of diversity and equity. Topics of faculty expertise include special needs education, cognition, inclusion, equity in STEM education, underserved populations, family literacy and home instruction for newcomer families.
What We Do
- Provide Professional Development opportunities
- Establish community partnerships
- Facilitate diverse populations program enrollment
- Disseminate equity through the Journal of the Center for Educational Equity and Diversity
- Track issues of diversity and equity through statistical analysis
The CEED Vision
Inclusion and equity in diversity are at the heart of WWU, and the SEP. Four seminal statements put forth in February of 1999 by the American Council on Education and the American Association of Community Colleges support the beliefs of CEED.
- Diversity enriches the educational experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and perspectives are different from our own, and these lessons can be taught best in a richly diverse intellectual and social environment.
- It promotes personal growth—and a healthy society. Diversity challenges stereotyped preconceptions; it encourages critical thinking; and it helps students learn to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds.
- It strengthens communities and the workplace. Education within a diverse setting prepares students to become good citizens in an increasingly complex, pluralistic society; it fosters mutual respect and teamwork; and it helps build communities whose members are judged by the quality of their character and their contributions.
- It enhances America’s economic competitiveness. Sustaining the nation’s prosperity in the 21st century will require us to make effective use of the talents and abilities of all our citizens, in work settings that bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.