President Mark Lombardi, PhD, has announced Maryville University will receive the 2018 Corporate Diversity Award from the St. Louis American Foundation. The award is presented annually to honor an organization’s continued, progressive commitment to diversity in the St. Louis region.

The Corporate Diversity Award will be presented to Maryville University on Nov. 30 at the 19th annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon.

“We are humbled and thrilled to receive this outstanding recognition,” Lombardi said. “Maryville has worked strategically and passionately to build a diverse and inclusive learning environment and that work will continue to accelerate and grow.”

To signify the importance of this commitment, diversity and inclusion are core values of Maryville University and one of the pillars of the institution’s strategic plan, “A New Century of Higher Education: Maryville 2022.”

“Through a clear and determined strategy that will not end, we have recruited a more diverse student body, faculty, and staff who engage in a wide variety of curricular and enrichment programs designed to build a truly inclusive campus culture,” Lombardi said. “We are by no means finished, but led by our Office of Diversity and Inclusion we believe that issues surrounding diversity and inclusion can be addressed and solved through engaged civil dialogue and respect for all people and their experiences.”

Over the past five years, Maryville has intentionally worked toward building a more diverse campus community. Students of color represent 23 percent of the total student population, and that number has doubled since 2008. The number of diverse faculty and staff tripled over the same time period.

Maryville is highly focused on expanding access to higher education for all students. The University’s Multicultural Scholarship program has grown exponentially over the past five years—the number of scholarship participants increased by 54 percent in the past year alone. The vital goal of ensuring access to higher education continues to expand, and the University has raised millions from generous donors and matched those funds with institutional support to open the doors of access for several hundred students from the St. Louis region and beyond.

Maryville continually strives to bend the cost curve of higher education to break down barriers to college. Backed by sound financial planning, the University announced a tuition freeze for the 2018-2019 academic year, marking the third freeze of tuition and fees in the last four years.