A new committee established across Washington University plans to create and implement a two-year plan to make the University a more diverse and welcoming place.

The Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee consists of 17 members of the University community, ranging from upper-level administrators to law students to faculty members across campus.

Established using delegates from “Race and Ethnicity: A Day of Discovery and Dialogue” held on Feb. 5 and 6, the committee will meet over the course of the rest of the semester and summer to discuss ways the University can make the campus more open and inclusive. The committee’s first meeting will take place within a month, and a five-person executive committee will lead the implementation of its solutions over the course of the next two years.

Julia Macias Garcia, associate director of student involvement and leadership and director of the Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program, believes that the committee will strongly impact the way students, faculty and staff interact across campus.

“At the end of the day, what people really talk about is how do you make everyone feel not just welcomed at the University, but they are valued and have a purpose here,” Macias Garcia said.

According to Macias Garcia, the committee wants concrete changes that will make the University a much more open and inviting place for dialogue and discussion from all students.

“I think that’s the hope that this movement will impact students and make this even better,” Macias Garcia said. “Just a place where students can feel comfortable having conversations and having debates and being able to oppose different viewpoints—where that’s sort of just a normal thing.”

Rudolph Clay, head of library diversity initiatives and outreach services at Olin Library and subject librarian of African and African-American Studies, was also chosen as a committee member after the Day of Diversity. He noted that last semester’s events in Ferguson made the University realize there was still much to address on campus in terms of diversity.

“Specifically, after Ferguson, we knew that we were not where we wanted to be,” Clay said. “And we knew that we needed to move forward and we knew that we needed more voices from the larger part of the Wash. U. community about how we should move forward.”

“I think after Ferguson, more people are more conscious that even on campus, we need to do more,” Clay added. “We need to have a more diverse faculty. We need to have a more diverse and inclusive student body and staff. We need to be able to value all opinions. As we do this, we want Wash. U. to set an example for other institutions also.”

He also said that any possible changes were geared toward giving students tools to deal with issues of diversity after they leave college.

“We want, as students graduate and go out into the world, that they take this on as a challenge also, that whatever institutions they end up in, that they’re equipped to move us on as a country, as far as being open, valuing other people and being more inclusive,” Clay said.