Our Values

 

The WIRC staff acknowledges our perspective is one of privilege, as we are both white and male. However, our love and passion for six-legged creatures is due in large part to their incredible diversity. Indeed, insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet!

We are even more passionate about embracing the diversity of people that visit, use, or work in the WIRC—and we are adamant that everyone should feel safe in our collection.

We continuously strive to ensure that the WIRC is a welcoming place for all to work, conduct research, or visit. Therefore we explicitly encourage all  individuals interested in insects and/or collections—no matter their color, ethnicity, religion, or sexual preference or orientation—to visit us and the collection. The profound impact that diversity has on the University of Wisconsin is clear; we add their well-articulated statement here:

 


INSTITUTIONAL STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY

 

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background — people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.


 

If anyone has cause to question our commitment to diversity and equality, please reach out to WIRC staff or to UW-Madison’s Dean of Students office (as a starting point).