The Pluralism Project
Community & Institutional Belonging
Everyone Belongs Here at UW Bothell
The Community & Institutional Belonging (Pluralism Initiative) at UW Bothell is about creating a campus where everyone feels seen, valued, respected, and connected. We believe belonging grows when people have opportunities to build relationships, learn from one another, and engage across different backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. Through dialogue, storytelling, shared learning, and community engagement, we’re working together to strengthen our campus community.
Why This Matters
Higher education hasn’t always been experienced equally by everyone. Many students, faculty, staff, and communities have faced barriers to access, opportunity, representation, and belonging. Those experiences continue to shape our campuses today. Rather than looking away from this history, we choose to learn from it. Understanding where we’ve been helps us build a stronger, more welcoming future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Our Approach: Pluralism
Pluralism is the approach that guides our work. We define pluralism as the ongoing practice of building meaningful relationships across different identities, perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences. Pluralism doesn’t ask us to overlook differences or ignore inequities. Instead, it invites us to engage them honestly, learn from one another, and build trust through conversation, curiosity, and shared experiences. We believe belonging grows when people have opportunities to share their stories, listen deeply, and work together toward a stronger community. By honoring both our history and the experiences that shape each of us today, we create the conditions for everyone to feel respected, valued, and empowered to contribute.
Moving Forward Together
Building belonging is ongoing work, and everyone has a role to play. Through dialogue, storytelling, relationship-building, and shared action, we’re creating a campus where people feel connected, valued, and empowered to contribute. We believe our differences strengthen our community. By learning from our history, listening to one another, and working together across our differences, we can build a UW Bothell where every student, faculty member, staff member, and community partner has the opportunity to belong and thrive.
The Inception of Pluralism
UW Bothell is one of 10 colleges and universities that has been accepted to the 2025 American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Pluralism Cohort. This initiative equips students with the knowledge base, mindset and skillset to serve as bridgebuilders in a divided world. Building on Interfaith America’s “respect, relate, cooperate” framework, the program is designed to help students, staff, faculty, and leaders build their capacity to have:
- Respect for diverse viewpoints and experiences.
- Relationship across difference that humanizes and values one another.
- Shared communal action to address shared concerns, including concerns amongst marginalized and underrepresented members.