Hispanic Heritage Month

Dear NJIT Community Members,

NJIT is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month this October, and we recognize that diversity is among our university’s greatest strengths. It is a key component of learning and innovation, because hearing the perspectives of those with varied backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences informs our thinking and yields improved results.

It is important that we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and embrace our responsibility to cultivate future generations of Hispanic students, faculty, and staff who will advance research and practice in the STEM disciplines. Our challenge begins with attracting significantly more underrepresented minority students to these fields, but we also must make certain that there are pathways for them to assume positions of leadership across organizations and industries. We are incredibly proud of the success NJIT has realized in this regard. Diversity in Action Magazine ranked NJIT as one of the country’s Top Institutions of Higher Learning Dedicated to STEM Diversity, and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named NJIT a top 100 producer of minority STEM graduates based on bachelor’s degrees awarded to minority students in engineering technologies and architecture. However, there remains much more to be done on this front.

Please join me in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and continuing to make respect for diversity a hallmark of the NJIT community.

NJIT President Joel S. Bloom