Please see below a set of definitions to aid understanding of the Antidiscrimination/Equal Employment Opportunity Office's work and Board of Trustees Policy 9.1, Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Equal Employment Opportunity and Antidiscrimination.

Inclusion: To ensure a GVSU community where all individuals and groups can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.

Fairness: To ensure all GVSU community members are set up to succeed and protected from discrimination.​

Diversity: To embrace the ways in which people differ by affording all GVSU community members or groups opportunities to learn about, celebrate and express the characteristics that make one different from another.

Antidiscrimination: Efforts to end and prevent practices, policies, and activities that violate civil rights laws, while preserving all GVSU community members’ rights to freedom of association and assembly and freedom of protected speech.

Equity: To serve all GVSU community members with equal dignity and respect by ensuring fairness, equal access, and equal opportunity for all people. This includes identifying and eliminating discriminatory practices that prevent full participation.

Protected Characteristics: Characteristics identified as protected within federal and Michigan state civil rights laws, including Age, Color, Disability (physical or mental), Ethnicity, Familial Status (including Parental Status), Gender expression, Gender identity, Height, Marital status, National origin (including Ancestry), Political affiliation, Pregnancy or Related conditions, Race, Religion, Sex, Sexual orientation, Veteran or active-duty military status, and Weight.