OU has received the 2016 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for its commitment to making diversity and inclusion a top priority on campus.
The award, given by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, is the "only national award that honors individual institutions for being outstanding examples of colleges or universities that are committed to making diversity and inclusion a top priority across their campuses," according to a press release.
“The university is especially pleased to receive this award because it confirms our goal of being a truly inclusive university family where all feel welcomed,” OU President David Boren said in a press release. “All of the university community, students, faculty, staff and alumni have worked hard together to earn this recognition.”
The award comes about a year and a half after the university made national and international headlines after a video of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members singing a racist chant on a date party bus leaked onto the internet. Since then, OU has created the Office of University Community and implemented mandatory diversity training for all incoming freshmen and transfer students.
Earlier this year, INSIGHT Into Diversity also honored Boren with its Giving Back Award, which "honors presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities who go above and beyond their everyday leadership duties and 'give back' to their campuses and communities," the release says.
This year's freshman class also has the largest number of minority students in a freshman class in university history, said Corbin Wallace, the OU press secretary.
