Penn State Berks is proud to provide a welcoming environment for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), from serving as home to international students from 29 different countries, to numerous clubs and organizations that create a community for students of various backgrounds and identities, to events that celebrate the many cultures of its community. Now the college is proud to announce the newly established Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE).
At Penn State Berks, Unity Day is an event that showcases diversity across people, services, majors and organizations from across the college with an emphasis on student clubs, featuring cuisine from various regions around the world.
Each November, Penn State Berks invites international students to a Thanksgiving celebration where they learn about the U.S. holiday and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal with some global cuisine twists.
The Global Studies program at Penn State Berks hosts various speakers from across the globe at Global Forum events throughout the year. In this image, 2023 Global Studies graduate Jaymi Smith poses with a friend she made while serving in the Peace Corps in Timor-Leste. Speakers' topics bring awareness of global issues to Berks students while introducing them to new cultures and people across the world.
Penn State Berks held its first-ever QueerCon in fall of 2024, celebrating and standing in solidarity with members of the LGBTQIA+ campus community. The event included special guest Carson Kressley, a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and a member of Bravo's original Queer Eye Fab Five.
The Thun Library at Penn State Berks proudly features a sensory room. Sensory rooms use specialized equipment, furniture and lighting to generate a controlled sensory-focused environment that calms the nervous system, increases feelings of safety, and lowers stress and anxiety. Also called multi-sensory environments, these spaces offer a form of accommodation that can help meet the needs of a growing population of neurodiverse students, such as those living with autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and PTSD.
At Penn State Berks, Unity Day is an event that showcases diversity across people, services, majors and organizations from across the college with an emphasis on student clubs, featuring cuisine from various regions around the world.