Diversity is a tool for truth, not political agendas, said Vincent D. Rougeau, president of the College of the Holy Cross, in his keynote address April 7 for Weill Cornell Medicine’s seventh annual Diversity Week.
Rougeau delivered the Elizabeth A. Wilson-Anstey, EdD Lecture, “Why Commitment to Diversity Still Matters,” in Uris Auditorium as part of the annual celebration of Weill Cornell Medicine’s commitment to greater equity, diversity and inclusion in academic medicine and health care.
“We’re living in a moment in which it feels rather fraught to acknowledge the things that we know are true,” said Rougeau, a lawyer who in 2021 became the first Black president of Holy Cross, the nation’s only undergraduate Jesuit liberal arts college. “I see diversity as a reality check. It’s engaging the world as it is. Acknowledging its importance allows us to solve real problems.”
In his deeply personal speech, Rougeau drew from his family’s civil rights history and experience as a legal scholar to reinforce the concept that diversity is about understanding people, not just representation. Indeed, diversity is essential for effective health care, education and leadership, he said, because it ensures we understand and care for people as they truly are, not as abstractions.
