The guiding principle in all we do and say at East Tennessee State University must be respect for the individual. Through our teaching, research, and public service, we must affirm the fundamental human values of courage, honor, pride, compassion, tolerance, and understanding. These values transcend time and place. They transcend technology. They rise above educational trends. They are the enduring principles that must be observed in order for the human race to flourish.

ETSU commits itself to creating and perpetuating an environment in which diversity of people and thought is respected. We embrace the belief that differences should be celebrated, and we believe that intolerance poses the single most dangerous threat to the continued existence of the race. -

Our aspiration is to create a university that fully appreciates the culture and the history of its surrounding region while it seeks to understand and accept the practices, beliefs, and customs of the greater global community.

It is ETSU's role not only to teach and to train but to inspire those among us as we build on our individual differences to achieve a common appreciation of our humanity.

“Cultural diversity is a core value in which people honor one another as individuals, value differences and the special gifts each of us brings to the community, and respect the rights of others as human beings inclusive of race, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, class, age, disability, religion, and national origin.”

(adopted by the Cultural Diversity Task Force u November 1997)