COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND DIVERSITY 
With the goal of ensuring the equal educational opportunity of all students, Santa Monica College embraces diversity among students, faculty, staff, and the communities we serve as an integral part of our history, a recognition of the complexity of our present state, and a call to action for a better future.  Embracing diversity means that we must intentionally practice equity and respect toward one another, and understand that discrimination and prejudices create and sustain privileges for some while creating and sustaining barriers for others.  In order to embrace diversity, we also acknowledge that institutional discrimination and implicit bias exist, and that our goal is to eradicate those vestiges from our system.  Our commitment to diversity requires that we strive to eliminate those barriers to equity, and that we act deliberately to create a safe and positive environment where individual and group differences are valued and leveraged for our growth and understanding as an educational community.