Kenyon's Computing Steering Committee has approved the following statement.
Statement on Equity, Inclusion and Pluralism in Computing
Within the field and profession of computing, persistent inequities and patterns of exclusion remain visible. These are reflected in disparities in representation, in documented accounts of discrimination and harassment, and in the ways computational ideas and products can perpetuate or exacerbate inequality. The technologies we create influence critical domains such as health care, criminal justice, housing, employment, surveillance, education and beyond. Yet the field has too often tolerated the embedding of structural biases into these systems, allowing inequities tied to intersecting identities to remain unaddressed.
As a program, we recognize that we have not consistently examined our own role in perpetuating these dynamics, nor have we adequately equipped our students to identify, analyze, and challenge the systemic mechanisms that maintain inequities across multiple axes of identity and experience. We acknowledge that this includes how we approach the history of science and technology: prevailing narratives have often been narrowed to a single perspective, minimizing or omitting the contributions of many cultures and civilizations. Such narratives, rooted in narrow and often exclusionary frameworks, misrepresent the global and interconnected history of knowledge creation and diminish the intellectual heritage of many peoples.
Motivated by a commitment to pluralism, intersectional analysis and social responsibility, we aim to cultivate a Program in Computing whose curriculum, scholarship and culture actively interrogate all systems of oppression and exclusion. We will broaden our understanding of what constitutes a computational education so that equity, inclusion and critical reflection are embedded into our work and the outcomes it produces. In doing so, we will leverage our academic and personal privileges to challenge the systems that have conferred those advantages, while fostering spaces for dialogue across differences.
These commitments are not one-time pledges, but ongoing practices requiring sustained engagement, openness to critique and thoughtful reassessment of both our principles and our actions.