Diversity Statement

The Marriage and Family Therapy Program in Falls Church affirms and upholds Virginia Tech's policies and philosophy concerning equal opportunity, affirmative action, and anti-discrimination. Read our Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Statement. For more information, read University Policy No. 1025: Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Assault. 

The Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Virginia Tech in Falls Church is committed to respect for human diversity. This is not just a statement but is a foundational belief at the core of our program. We believe that all individuals are entitled to compassion, respect, understanding and equal treatment. Family therapists must learn to understand and support individuals whose age, race, culture, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and, ability or other characteristics may be different from their own. This goal cannot be achieved solely through reading textbooks and class work. Befitting our location in a widely diverse and multicultural metropolitan area, and as part of a public university, we expect students to be open to encountering and working respectfully with clients, fellow students, staff, and faculty whose backgrounds, beliefs and life choices may not mirror their own. As a program, we expect that all of us will support each other as we encounter others who challenge us and that we will each work to create a safe environment in which different views can be shared and discussed.

For further information about the Virginia Tech Graduate School's policies regarding diversity and inclusion, please visit the Office of Recruitment, Diversity, and Inclusion's webpage. The Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Virginia Tech in Falls Church upholds all of the Graduate School's philosophies and policies concerning recruitment, diversity, and inclusion. The program encourages students of all beliefs, values, life experiences, races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and abilities to apply to our program to better serve the diverse needs of our population and contribute diverse and underrepresented perspectives to both research and clinical work in the MFT field.