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Introduction

At many institutions legal and regulatory requirements provide the impetus for affirmative action. However, at George Mason University, we view affirmative action as one outcome of a larger institutional strategy to enhance institutional diversity. A strategy, as we rush toward the 21st Century, that is essential in educating our students for an era in which at home and abroad, interaction with nonwhite and non-European cultures will be increasingly more frequent and important. The United States has gradually evolved from a largely white, European population to an increasingly diverse one in which people of color and non-European backgrounds represent a growing share of Americans. In fact one in eight (8) Americans were nonwhite in 1900; today, racial and ethnic minorities represent one in four (4) Americans. By 2020, about one in three (3) Americans will come from a minority background. Given these facts, one of the university's primary goals is to prepare students for the future in the shortest possible time. The Office Of Equity and Diversity Services is charged with administering and monitoring the university's collective efforts in meeting this goal.

As a public institution, a number of federal laws and regulations govern GMU on equal opportunity and affirmative action. These laws and regulations include, but are not limited to, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; a broad application of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the American's with Disabilities Act of 1990; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. These define the boundaries of the university's responsibilities for Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.