Diversity at CCA

Diversity Mission Statement

As an educational and cultural institution, California College of the Arts has a responsibility to provide access and opportunities for all people, with special attention to supporting groups historically underrepresented in higher education.

We believe that a culturally diverse campus is integral to academic excellence, and our student, faculty, staff, and trustee bodies should reflect the diverse world in which we live.

Cultural Literacy

In pursuit of academic excellence and community, it is important for all persons, regardless of their multiple identities, to actively develop cultural literacy skills. It is the community's responsibility to help create a welcoming and supportive environment for historically disenfranchised populations. Continually working on one's cultural competence and understanding the structural and systematic power that creates privilege and oppression is key to developing as a responsible global citizen.

Cultural Fluency

On a pragmatic level, we are educating the future shapers of culture, and as our world becomes increasingly international, cultural fluency is central to success. To this end, CCA also sees the need to increase its international student body and foster educational partnerships with more international institutions. At the same time we strive to be a good neighbor and work to partner with the local community.

We are committed to building an infrastructure that will help develop and support leaders in the arts from the rich diverse communities in which the college resides.

Cultural & Social Diversity

Finally, CCA's curriculum should reflect our commitment to cultural and social diversity. In addition to required courses in Diversity Studies, the broad curriculum should reflect a commitment to social change and social justice that informs the college's investigations into the processes and constructions of racial and ethnic, gender, sexual, and socioeconomic inequalities.

While a broad definition of diversity that includes diversity of perspectives and practices and reflects an interest in internationalization is central to the college, a focus on structural inequality and systems of privilege and oppression is key to CCA's diversity mission.

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