PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

16-Sep-2014

Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center @ColumbiaMed

NEW YORK, NY (September 16, 2014) The Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) has received the 2014 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual HEED Awarda national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusionCDM will be featured along with 82 other recipients in INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine's November 2014 issue.

"At the College of Dental Medicine, we are very proud of our targeted efforts to foster a student body diverse in thought, background, and experience within an inclusive environment," said Dennis Mitchell, DDS, MPH, senior associate provost for faculty diversity and inclusion, associate professor of dental medicine, and senior associate dean for student development in the CDM. "As a school that strives to be the No. 1 destination for the world's greatest scholars, we understand that we cannot achieve this aspiration without realizing our core values of inclusion and excellence. Accomplishing this requires that diversity be a fundamental academic accountability for our university, our schools, and our departments and evident through equity in recruiting, advancement, retention, and experience."

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected CDM based on its exemplary diversity and inclusion initiatives as well as its ability to embrace a broad definition of diversity, including gender, race, ethnicity, veterans, people with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, and other underrepresented communities. In keeping with the mission set forth by the CDM admissions policy for diversity, which affirms the College's commitment to ensure a "critical mass" of underrepresented students, as well as a student body that is broadly diverse in character, the school has continued to enroll a diverse DDS class. The last two entering classes (2017 and 2018, 20 percent) have included unprecedented numbers of students underrepresented in the dental profession. Excluding the dental schools of Meharry and Howard University (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and the University of Puerto Rico, CDM ranks in the top 10 percent of U.S. dental schools for enrollment of underrepresented minority dental students and first among its peer Northeast private dental schools.

The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP), funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is administered in collaboration with the College of Physicians & Surgeons Office of Diversity. CDM has enrolled a total of 35 graduates of the SMDEP program over the past decade, 19 of whom graduated from the CUMC SMDEP program (including three in the Class of 2017).

The Office of Diversity Affairs sponsors recruitment trips to several conferences targeting promising Underrepresented in Dentistry (UID) students. Various student organizations sponsor recruitment events on campus and participate in CDM's hosting program for UID applicants during interview season.

"We hope the HEED award serves as a way to honor those institutions of higher education that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion as part of their everyday campus culture," said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Other recipients of the 2014 HEED award are:

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Columbia University College of Dental Medicine receives diversity award