Affirmative Action Policy for Vassar College
The Board of Trustees has affirmed the commitment of the college to nondiscrimination and to active efforts to provide equal employment opportunities:
Vassar College states that it has been, and continues to be, its policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants in all job classifications without regard for race, color, religious belief, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, or age. Additionally, should state or federal law be enacted during the period this policy is extant which prohibits discrimination or harassment based upon a group’s protected status not listed in the above categories, this policy will be deemed amended to afford protection to such groups. It is and continues to be the policy of Vassar College that all applicants for employment are recruited, hired and assigned on the basis of personal merit without discrimination because of race, color, religious belief, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, or age Furthermore, it is the practice of Vassar College to ensure that all its employees are treated equally and that no distinctions are made in compensation, promotion, and transfer because of the employee’s race, color, religious belief, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, or age.
Vassar College states that its policy of equal employment opportunity will continue to be maintained. It fully recognizes, however, that the passive avoidance of overt discrimination is not sufficient to further employment opportunity for qualified members of groups formerly underrepresented. Therefore, it is and will be the practice of Vassar College to seek out qualified candidates for appointment and promotion among minority group members and women for positions where they have been inadequately represented in the past.
Fundamental to these statements of institutional policy is the affirmation that the presence on the faculty of women and members of ethnic and racial minorities is needed if the college is to fulfill its educational mission. The intent of the policy is that affirmative action at Vassar be not simply formal compliance with the law but a vigorous program of recruitment and appointment.