For more than three decades, our approach to equal opportunity and diversity has not wavered: Equal opportunity and diversity in employment, education and the delivery of health care are essential and must be furthered. This is a continuation of a policy that emanated from the hospital charters of 1865 and 1883, and the documents governing the establishment of Rush University in 1972.
Discrimination or harassment against any member of the Rush University Medical Center community (i.e., employee, faculty, house staff, student or patient) because of age, ancestry, color, disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, gender, gender identity and/or expression, marital or parental status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran's status, or any other category protected by federal or state law is prohibited and will not be tolerated, nor will any person for those reasons be excluded from the participation in, or denied the benefits of, any program or activity within Rush University Medical Center or Rush University.
In certain instances, the implementation of this policy requires the use of affirmative action initiatives. At Rush, these are focused on strong recruitment and programming efforts — not on the use of quotas — and these recruitment and programming efforts will be continued, consistent with federal, state and municipal guidelines.