The Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives—OADI—is all about inclusion and achievement across the Cornell campus so that students of all backgrounds excel in reaching their academic goals.  Our students come from backgrounds that have been historically under-represented. And the faculty and staff who support them add tremendously to the educational environment that brings excellence to all fields of study.  Without diverse points of view coming from varied life experience and without multiple ways of interpreting the world, all classrooms and research at Cornell would suffer.  We seek to ensure a high-quality academic and intellectual experience for all at Cornell.

OADI provides individual and group support for academic pursuits and organizations, a place of lively discussion and interchange, a family environment in which to feel at home and speak openly, and a strong voice of advocacy across the institution.  We work to assist our students to get the most out of Cornell, and we work to assist Cornell to benefit more fully from inclusive excellence.

We pronounce OADI as "wadi," which is an Arabic/Swahili word that refers to a cool protected passage route/valley through a desert, often formed by a seasonal river.