Diversity
Family Therapy Training Program
The Family Therapy Training Program at the University of Rochester values an all- inclusive learning environment where diversity forms an integral part of the curriculum. The faculty, supervisors, staff and students are committed to the core values and mission of the University of Rochester to sustain a diverse community of education, research, clinical care and community involvement. Each person contributes to the collective learning community from the intersectionalities of race, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, health status, religious and spiritual practices, nation of origin, veteran status, immigration or refugee status, and/or language.
The program strives to create open, safe, and respectful spaces in which a variety of ways of living and perspectives are expressed. The program aspires to engage each member with cultural humility, acknowledge the ongoing and dynamic process of discovering, and demonstrating openness and courage for connecting with each other in meaningful relationships. The program enhances therapeutic care within diverse families and communities through this reflective self-of-the-therapist growth and personal connections with each other.
Many students come to the program bringing a breadth and depth of multicultural experiences, representative of the local, national and international communities. The program provides a safe space to explore personal, family and other cultural identities, power, privilege and/or oppression. Students train in settings with individuals, couples and families whose life experiences, worldviews and values might be very different from their own. Faculty, supervisors, and students uphold the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Ethics Code for non-discrimination and provision of quality care, while offering opportunities for students to explore their self-of-the-therapist growth.
In clinical training as an MFT, the ability to value, honor and work with differences is an essential skill. It is the responsibility as program leadership, faculty, supervisors, staff and students to create a safe and welcoming and optimal educational environment
University of Rochester: An Inclusive Community
The University of Rochester envisions itself as a community that welcomes, encourages, and supports individuals who desire to contribute to and benefit from the institution’s missions of teaching, research, patient care, performance, and community service. In a pluralistic culture, that community includes faculty, students, and staff who represent important differences. Members of the University’s community come from different geographical areas, represent differences in ethnicities, religious beliefs, values, socioeconomic backgrounds, and points of view; they may be physically different, have different intellectual interests, or have different abilities. The University not only welcomes such differences in the members of its community but, in fulfilling its own missions and in preparing the leaders of tomorrow’s world who will necessarily be operating in an equally wide-ranging environment, it actively seeks to recruit and include diverse personnel in all aspects of the institution’s operations. The University has been more successful in some instances than in others in attracting and retaining participants from such a demographically broad base.
The University of Rochester values diversity and is committed to equal opportunity for persons regardless of age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, military/veteran status, national origin, race, religion/creed, sex, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law. Further, the University complies with all applicable nondiscrimination laws in the administration of its policies, programs, and activities. Questions on compliance should be directed to the particular school or department and/or to the University’s Equal Opportunity Compliance Director.
To be inclusive in the broad sense defined by the University’s mission, much remains to be done beyond compliance with the law and explicit language about equal opportunity. Further, the University’s activities in this regard must always be directed to the enhancement of the human dignity of all members of its community; that must include strategies that foster appreciation for our many differences. These are essential to the success of the institution’s missions.
The University has a goal of ensuring an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of its constituents. Success will be measured by relative progress determined by quality and contributions to overall institutional goals and missions. That requires vigorous, systematic, consistent, and enduring actions in all University domains.
The University of Rochester is an institution devoted to teaching, research, and service. We do these at world-class levels. The challenges facing us as we work to be more inclusive and provide a welcoming environment will respond to our skills as teachers and learners. In the context of our commitment to being more inclusive and diverse, we can apply these skills to the continuing work of transforming our environment in ways that enable greater participation, enhance human dignity, eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and improve the quality of life for everyone.
University of Rochester: Statement of Educational Philosophy
The University of Rochester seeks to provide the best possible environment for excellence in learning, research, and teaching at the collegiate, graduate, and professional levels. To accomplish this, we bring together faculty, students, and staff who have achieved excellence or show great promise toward that goal, who are dedicated to learning, and who will help to build a community that encourages all of its members to succeed and grow.
Our University’s distinctive heritage—bolstered by foundational community and university leaders such as abolitionist Frederick Douglass, women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, and corporate leader and philanthropist Joseph C. Wilson, as well as numerous path-breaking scholars—leads us actively to seek out and include persons from diverse backgrounds and origins who carry with them their own valued and important perspectives.
The University’s motto—Meliora (“always better”)—defines excellence as a process of continual improvement. Pursuing excellence in learning and teaching in the framework of our distinctive heritage demands the inclusion of those who will collectively and individually enhance our diversity.
Further, productive inquiry best takes place when individuals can explore and share their experience and thoughts as equal members of our community, uninhibited by prejudice or discrimination. Thus, our pursuit of excellence requires that we create and support a community of faculty, students and staff who together and individually enhance diversity and who strive to make themselves and our community ever better.
University of Rochester: Diversity Resources
The central repository for resources, events, affinity groups and polices: http://www.rochester.edu/diversity/
Affinity Groups
Latino Professional Alliance (LPA)
Pride Alliance at UR
Sankofa (formally the African American Network)
Veterans Alliance @UR
Young Leaders @ UR
Current students and faculty
Our current students represent a rich diversity of backgrounds, life experiences, undergraduate degrees and other professional or volunteer work. Some are local to Rochester or New York State, others come from across the United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina; recent graduates from California, Maine, Maryland, Texas, Utah, Washington State, Wisconsin) and internationally (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand). Our faculty, many of whom have worked together for decades, also bring a broad array of personal and professional backgrounds to our program. Most of our faculty hold dual appointments in our primary Department of Psychiatry, as well as faculty appointments representing teaching, clinical work or research in the Departments of Family Medicine, Medicine, Neurology, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, and/or Surgery. Student Stats and Facts chart
The University of Rochester strives to be a diverse and welcoming community with many affinity groups, as well as multi-cultural events throughout the year. For more information regarding diversity at the University of Rochester, see the Equal Opportunity @ Rochester web page. If making a complaint of harassment or discrimination, see the Harassment and Discrimination section of the page.