For the third consecutive year, Highline College has received the 2015 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
“Highline is honored to receive this award for the third year in a row and to be recognized for our commitment to diversity and the work we do every day on our campus,” said Highline President, Dr. Jack Bermingham. “Diversity is more than a program or an initiative at Highline; it is the soul of our institution.”
As a recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — Highline will be featured along with 91 other recipients in Insight Into Diversity magazine’s November 2015 issue. Highline also received the HEED Award in 2013 and 2014.
Insight Into Diversity magazine selected recipients based on exemplary diversity and inclusion initiatives, and ability to embrace a broad definition of diversity on campus, including gender, race, ethnicity, veterans, people with disabilities and members of the LGBT community.
“Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being accomplished every day across a campus,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine.
People representing more than 120 cultures attend classes at the college. With approximately 70 percent students of color, Highline ranks as the most diverse higher education institution in Washington state.
Diversity is one of the college’s core themes and central to its mission. Over the years, the college has received numerous honors and awards for its commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment. In 2014, the college earned the 21st Century Award of Excellence for Advancing Diversity from the American Association of Community Colleges, which recognized Highline as a leader among the nation’s community colleges for increasing diversity as well as educational and social justice equity.
Highline was one of only two colleges in the state — and the only community college in Washington — to receive the 2015 HEED Award. Other 2015 HEED Award recipients include the following:
Alliant International University
Anne Arundel Community College Arizona Summit Law School
Augsburg College
California State University, East Bay California State University, Fresno
California State University, San Marcos
Capital Community College
Case Western Reserve University
Central Washington University
City University of New York School of Law
Cleveland State University
College of Southern Maryland
Columbia University
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
Community College of Philadelphia
Cornell University
Cuyahoga Community College
Davenport University
DePaul University
East Carolina University
Edinboro University
El Paso Community College
Estrella Mountain Community College
Florida Coastal School of Law
Florida State University
Framingham State University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Houston Community College
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University
Juniata College
Kansas State University
Kennesaw State University
Kent State University
Louisiana State University
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Millersville University
Moraine Valley Community College
Northern Virginia Community College
Oklahoma State University
Palo Alto University
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Rice University
Rochester Institute of Technology
San Diego State University
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Seminole State College of Florida
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southwestern Law School
St. Cloud State University
SUNY College at Buffalo
SUNY System
Texas Tech University
The Pennsylvania State University
The University of Akron
The University of Texas at Austin
Union College New York
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati College of Nursing
University of Florida College of Dentistry
University of Georgia
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Louisville
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Missouri-St. Louis
University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of South Carolina
University of the Rockies
University of Toledo
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Virginia School of Medicine
University of West Florida
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Western Michigan University