BEAM's Commitment to Diversity

At the Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics Department, we are committed to fostering a diverse community of faculty, staff and students. We strive to recruit and graduate a high quality, diverse student body. The BEAM diversity committee supports these goals by listening to the needs and wants of the departmental community and formulating strategies for fulfilling these needs and wants. 

Click the link below to see a list of resources available at Virginia Tech and ways to get involved in supporting diversity and inclusion.

In alignment with the College of Engineering's strategic plan, we confirm our commitment to those five core values of inclusiveness, excellence, integrity, perseverance, and stewardship. 

Inclusiveness: Our community supports equity and fosters respect for every individual, enabling collaboration and collegiality to permeate our classrooms, research facilities, and offices, and to extend to the broader university community. We recognize the importance of allowing every voice to be heard in a spirit of mutual respect. 

The committee meets monthly during the semester. If you have any suggestions or concerns that the committee should discuss, please let any of us know. Find more information about our committee, newsletters, and ways to get involved here.

As a department in the College of Engineering, we receive the encouragement and support provided by the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). Since its inception in 1992, the center has provided encouragement and support to engineering students, focusing on the under-represented population. CEED recognizes that Virginia Tech students are among the best and brightest, and assists them in achieving excellence.

For more information on how to support equity and diversity at BEAM and Virginia Tech visit:

Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community

Virginia Tech adopts and practices these principles as fundamental to our on-going efforts to increase access and inclusion and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members.

Disrupting Academic Bullying

To maintain a culture of civility throughout the graduate education experience, academic bullying is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

Virginia Tech’s Cultural and Community Centers 

Established in 1998 as the Safe Zone program, the Cultural and Community Centers office was created as a collaborative effort between the Dean of Students; HokiePRIDE of Virginia Tech; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus (LGBT Caucus); and the Office for Equity and Access (formerly the Office of Equal Opportunity). Their purpose is to offer advocacy, advising, and cultural awareness .

LGBTQ+ Resource Center

The LGBTQ+ Resource Center aims to advance, through education and advocacy, the rights and well-being of all Virginia Tech LGBTQ+ communities locally, across the Commonwealth of Virginia, and around the globe. We work to provide space, acknowledge and celebrate intersectionality, cultivate leadership, and engage in activism in the spirit of Ut Prosim.

Stop Abuse

Virginia Tech commits to: working toward ending abuse and violence on campus; supporting the abused, and holding perpetrators accountable.