Mission and Vision

Mission for OAI

The Office of Accessibility and Inclusion (OAI) has been established at LUMS as the focal point for students, faculty and staff for all matters relating to inclusion, campus diversity and equity. The Office aims to be a melting pot of ideas, discussions, and policy recommendations aimed at making LUMS a safer and more inclusive campus, equally owned by all members of the LUMS community.

Purpose of OAI

The Office of Accessibility and Inclusion (OAI) serves a broad range of interests. It works on awareness and sensitization of matters relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, and inclusion. It inquires into and aims to resolve complaints of harassment. It works with the various schools and departments at LUMS to provide support to projects aimed at improving diversity and inclusion on campus. OAI also works with student societies and the student body to ensure an inclusive experience and equitable opportunities for students with regard to student initiatives on campus and otherwise.

Vision for the future

OAI is a very new establishment. Its current vision is to work in collaboration with students, student societies, faculty, departments and the various schools at LUMS to create an inclusive, welcoming, supportive and safe campus, both online and offline. The Office aims to ensure that every student instinctively knows that the OAI is the go-to place for any concerns relating to harassment or inclusion.

OAI wishes to bring about incremental change in the University – in the campus, by making it more inclusive; in the student body, by making it more diverse; in the discussions on and off campus, to make them more informed, nuanced and sensitive. As the premier higher educational institution in the country, LUMS is well suited to lead the shift in social and cultural attitudes towards vulnerable groups, be it women, minorities, Person with Disabilities (PWDs), cultural taboos, or religion.

We wish to begin our first year on campus by listening and learning, so that we may respond in an informed manner. Work is underway on preparation of a campus climate survey, which will help us identify where the University is falling short in its aims of inclusion and equal opportunity. We hope to use the results of this survey to make focussed and effective interventions to improve campus climate to create an equal sense of belonging and autonomy within the students, faculty and staff who populate the campus.

LUMS seeks to improve its current infrastructure to better facilitate people with different physical, mental as well as learning abilities. We hope to work with the various Schools at LUMS to develop safe spaces for women, religious minorities, and nursing mothers.

In our endeavour to create a campus truly free from harassment, we believe in beginning by educating ourselves. Rigorous trainings are being prepared for every member of the LUMS community – these trainings will be conducted online and offline. OAI will be following these up with refresher trainings and specialized workshops to build on aspects that we feel are lacking – based on your feedback through the climate survey and otherwise.

As a University, we believe in reformation through education and critical dialogue. We believe that people are inherently good, and that together we can learn to bridge gaps and move towards a respectful and inclusive environment together. We believe in the importance of accountability; in line with our goal towards reformation, we see accountability as being effective when coupled with the chance to do better. For this reason, we hope to become a centre for learning and inculcating values of reform, and education.

We hope to work with the LUMS Community on making the campus more inclusive, and its individuals more well-rounded together.