FROM THE BEGINNING
New School University is a forum for intellectual, artistic and social justice debates, as well as assessments and critiques of popular and traditional principles, ideas and ways of thinking. Accompanying this intellectual fermentation is an openness to people of diverse cultures and outlooks, as if to say 'the more different the people, the better." As a result, important scholars, activists, artists and public intellectuals have always a part of offerings.

Intellectual and cultural diversity, although consistent with and related to affirmative action, are still distinct. Affirmative action, based on continuant diversity, is a remedy for past discriminations in employment and is an affirmation of American institutions obligation to hire, admit and promote Americans from "underrepresented groups". We have combined efforts to implement and foster these multiple perspectives on diversity into a single, comprehensive set of activities. Specifically, we created a series of resource and management commitments to develop and pursue affirmative action and diversity under the name 'The Diversity Initiative'. In addition, we have published a number of Affirmative Action Plans with the purpose of increasing the presence of members of underrepresented groups. Begun in 1993-94, a coordinated and centralized set of resources and programs to increase representation of minority groups in every facet of University life and to demonstrate intellectual and cultural diversity in every aspect of education offered to students.

scholars
The University Scholars Program has been one of the most successful financial aid programs implemented at the University. University Scholars awards help reduce student reliance on loans; an award is generally maintained for the duration of the students enrollment. Since the programs beginning in 1990 with awards to 34 students , the University has consistently increased support to African-American, Latino, and Asian American students. In 1998 over 400 awards, totaling nearly one million dollars, were allocated. From 1990 to 1998, over four million dollars in aid have been distributed to fund 1,700 awards to assist 1,000 students. Program success is suggested by the fact that the attrition rate for University Scholars is below that for the University as a whole.

fellowship
The 1996 Status Report on the Diversity Initiative identified the Diamond Fellowship Program as a strategy to retain top students and encourage timely completion of degrees. The support enabled African-American and Latinos with exceptional records to study at the Graduate Faculty. In 1997 a second grant of $275,000 was received from the Irene Diamond Foundation for ten additional Diamond Fellows through 2001.