Minorities Center

The Minorities Center, functioning under the oversight of the University Diversity Officer (UDO), provides a welcoming and inclusive space where individuals from diverse backgrounds — including women, people with disabilities, individuals from ethnic and national minority backgrounds, and those from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs) and low-income households — can feel respected, supported, and empowered. The Center is dedicated to promoting diversity, fostering mutual understanding, and ensuring that every member of the university community has a sense of belonging.

The Center works to support these individuals by addressing challenges related to identity, culture, or inclusion, with a particular focus on groups most at risk of being underserved. It plays an active role in identifying, tracking, and formally escalating their needs — spanning tuition and financial aid, academic support, health services, food and housing assistance, and transportation — to the relevant university departments, helping ensure equitable access to support at every stage of a person's time at PU.

Women's Continuity Pathway 
The Minorities Center coordinates support for women whose education or employment is at risk of interruption — or has already been paused — for any reason, including childcare needs, marriage, caregiving responsibilities, or financial hardship. Rather than navigating these challenges alone across multiple departments, women can turn to the Center as a single point of coordination to plan a path to resume their studies or work.
Where childcare is the barrier, individuals are connected to PU's subsidized childcare partnership with the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped (LWAH); where the barrier is financial, academic, or logistical, Center staff coordinate directly with the relevant university departments — academic, HR, and financial aid — to support re-enrollment or return to work.
Center staff bring specialized training that equips them to guide women through pauses in their education or career, ensuring consistent, informed support at every step. This grounding in professional training is what has qualified them for their roles and appointments in the field:

• Humanitarian Leadership Diploma – 2022
• UNICEF: Infant Young Child Feeding in Emergencies - 2023
• PLAN International: Gender Based Violence – Reproductive and Sexual Health - 2019
• Lana Haq (We Have a Right) Initiative, Jordan — A member of Center staff served as Change Maker Officer at CFUWI, in partnership with Oxfam (2015), where she initiated the Lana Haq ("We Have a Right") Initiative: cross-country study visits on gender equality, women's empowerment, and social inclusion, engaging civil society organizations and community leaders on women's participation in education, employment, and leadership.
   

Disability Support Pathway

Living with a disability should not stand in the way of completing a degree or doing your job well. The Minorities Center works with students and employees to identify what is needed — whether it is a physical accommodation, an assistive device, or a therapy referral — and helps put it in place.

Through PU's partnership with the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped (LWAH), the Center connects individuals to the Patient Access Office and Social Services to provide them with suitable support. When the need is academic or workplace-related instead — extended deadlines, accessible classroom arrangements, adjusted work conditions — trained Center staff liaise directly with the relevant academic, HR, or facilities teams to get it sorted.

Staff supporting this pathway bring hands-on expertise to this work, developed through specialized training such as Educational Technology (ET) and Assistive Technology (AT): Supporting People with Special needs - 2018, as well as ongoing service as an Assistive Technology Provider supporting individuals with disabilities and special educational needs — assessing AT needs, implementing solutions, and training multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams.

Other Support Pathways

Beyond the pathways above, the Minorities Center serves as a point of contact for other underrepresented groups, including students and employees facing financial hardship and international or ethnic minority students navigating integration challenges. In these cases, Center staff connect individuals to the relevant university office — financial aid, student affairs, or global outreach international office — to ensure their concerns are addressed through the appropriate channel.

Students and employees from low-income households and the bottom income quintile are recognized as facing compounded financial, academic, and social barriers to completing their studies or sustaining employment. The Center works to identify the specific support required in each case, which may include emergency financial assistance, adjusted or deferred tuition payment arrangements, connection to work-study or income-support opportunities, or referral to external welfare and NGO partners. Center staff coordinate directly with the financial aid office to conduct a thorough assessment of individual needs and to secure timely, tailored support, ensuring that financial hardship does not become a barrier to academic or professional success.