Mission and Statement of Core Values

Mission Statement

The English Department at Kansas State University is committed to enhancing the intellectual and cultural lives of its students, its faculty, and the citizens of the region. Through high quality instruction, research, and service, it works to sustain a deep level of critical and creative thinking about literature and the world and to encourage habits of mind that serve as the foundation for a variety of future careers for Kansas State students.

 

Statement of Core Values

The Department of English at Kansas State University affirms our core values of diversity, social justice, critical thinking, creativity, and empathy. We honor Kansas's history as an abolitionist state and Kansas State University's legacy as a land grant institution that was, from its first class, coeducational and racially integrated. We stand for justice and against misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, transphobia, ableism, and the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous peoples. We support efforts to reverse human-caused climate change, and we oppose other human threats to the planet.

We affirm the presence on campus of people from diverse backgrounds and promise to protect and to serve as a resource for any who feel targeted by hate speech and acts. We stand with the Modern Language Association and allied organizations in our commitment to "free inquiry and academic freedom for all, unimpeded by acts of prejudice and hate." Free inquiry and inclusive dialogue require an environment in which all feel safe and welcome. Therefore, we condemn all forms of harassment and prejudice that contribute to a climate of fear and suspicion in our community.

[Approved 12/18/16; updated and approved 12/11/19 to include climate.]