Practitioners, teachers and scholars responsible for the design of the built environment from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, interior design and environmental design, have a profound impact on our lives and the physical fabric of our communities. Acknowledging that the design of the built environment must necessarily respond to the needs of diverse constituencies, we believe that now is the time, and NDSU is the place, to conduct a much-needed examination of equity and diversity impacts on the design professions and on the community at large.