Being a welcoming and diverse community is an essential part of Whitworth's mission. As a Christian institution, we seek to cultivate in students, faculty and staff the capacity to relate effectively across a broad spectrum of human diversity in our learning, working and living environments.

Our cultural-diversity advocates -- students who are a part of residence-hall leadership teams -- promote a community that values individual differences and respects the rights and opinions of all residents. They orient and provide personalized attention to our international students and develop informative, educational and fun cultural activities for all residents.

Whitworth was the first college in the Northwest to join the innovative Act Six Leadership & Scholarship program, which brings a multicultural cadre of up to 10 mostly first-generation, lower-income urban students to Whitworth each year. And in 2010, Whitworth created its International Student Center to provide a central place for faculty, staff and students, particularly those from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, to gather and discuss issues such as diversity on campus.

Our general education requirements include foreign language, American diversity and global perspectives content. And our school of education engages 100 percent of its teachers-in-training in intercultural immersion experiences that prepare them to teach students from diverse backgrounds.