CODEI: Counselors for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our Mission
Consistent with the Counseling and Behavioral Health department's strong commitment to community engagement, advocacy and cultural humility, the Counselors for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (CODEI) committee seeks to honor and celebrate the uniqueness of students, faculty and staff by promoting practices that support an environment in which everyone can achieve success without barriers.
Meet Our Committee
The CODEI Committee consists of Counseling and Behavioral Health department faculty and staff. We provide consultation and make recommendations to other program committees and individual faculty and staff members. We aim to ensure that policies, practices and procedures reflect approaches that are grounded in the tenets of diversity, equity and inclusion and prepare students for engagement with multicultural populations.
CODEI Committee Goals:
1. Promote diversity
2. Amplify student voices
3. Advance practices
4. Encourage the active pursuit and enhancement of community partnerships
5. Support development of students' skills and abilities
6. Support a culture of inclusion
These goals align with:
- Our University's goal and strategies to promote Diversity and Inclusion
- The mission of our Office of Health Sciences Diversity (OHSD)
- The values that define our School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS)
- The mission of the department of Counseling and Behavioral Health
Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health Diversity and Anti-Racism Declaration
Personal and Professional Values
Counselors actively attempt to understand the diverse cultural backgrounds of their clients. This includes learning how the counselor’s own identities impact their values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors relative to their relationship with clients throughout the counseling process.
Diversity Statement
The Pitt Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health is committed to creating and supporting an equitable learning and working environment that values diversity, human dignity, and mutual respect. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion in which diversity can thrive for all students, faculty, staff, and guests in the department.
We are dedicated to a policy of safety and equal opportunity for all persons. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, nationality, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political affiliations and beliefs, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health Anti-racism Declaration
The Counseling profession values nurturing and caring environments where all people are seen, heard, and treated with dignity and respect. In our program, we strive toward an atmosphere that is free from the harmful effects of racism. To stand against racism, we know that we must first acknowledge its existence and the longstanding, destructive impact it has made and continues to make.
We acknowledge the deeply embedded historical system of racism and white supremacy within the United States that has reinforced the present-day oppression and exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color from full and equal participation in all aspects of American life. Specifically, Anti-Black racism has contributed to the marginalization of African Americans within the judicial, educational, employment, housing, financial, and medical systems, creating disparities for generations. The counseling and behavioral health fields are not immune from this racist history, and we acknowledge the harms that have flowed from this history. Racism limits access, creates barriers, perpetuates stereotypes, permits hate, overlooks bias, and further contributes to distressful and traumatic life experiences, sometimes resulting in death.
We recognize disparities in institutional policies and procedures in physical and mental healthcare, education, the judicial system, employment, sports and entertainment, and the brutal violence of law enforcement. We condemn racism, police brutality, systemic violence, and the dehumanizing forces of oppression and white supremacy.
We commit to supporting our BIPOC students, staff, faculty, and guests who have faced marginalization, violence, and oppression. We affirm your need to grieve, to mobilize, and to rest. We validate your feelings of rage. We resolve to purposefully identify, discuss, and challenge issues of individual and systemic racism and to take intentional, concrete steps toward dismantling racism, while prioritizing the creation and maintenance of "inclusive learning" spaces.