The Working Party on Gender Equality was formed in September 2015 with a mandate from the Academic Council in response to an initiative of the Student Association for Gender Equality (SAGE). The working party is presided by MATA Director Michele Chang, and comprises members of academic and administrative staff, as well as student representatives from both the Bruges and Natolin campuses.

Since its inception, the achievements of the Working Party have included, among others: developing and regularly revising the College’s Code of Conduct; providing annual workshops on consent; expanding academic resources on gender equality; introducing gender scoreboards in all academic departments; promoting gender mainstreaming; creating all-gender bathrooms; creating a Welfare Office; and most recently, drafting a Gender Equality Charter.

• Gender Equality Charter
• 2024_2025 Gender Equality - Implementation Overview.pdf

While this work continues to form an important component of the College’s efforts towards fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for faculty, staff, and the student body, the Working Party recognized the need for a broader approach going beyond gender equality to foster such an environment. In response, the Academic Council agreed in 2024 on suspending the Gender Equality Working Party and to establish a new DEI Committee with an expanded mandate. 

The purpose of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee is twofold: 

1. To expand the remits beyond gender equality and tackle a broader range of issues in the field of DE&I, including but not limited to age, race, nationality, ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability, neurodiversity, religion or belief, sexual orientation and gender identity.
2. To ensure a broad representation across the College community, encompassing the interests of students, staff (both blue- and white-collar workers) and faculty.  

The overall aim of the DEI Committee is to promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive study and work environment across all departments at the College of Europe, where diverse experiences and perspectives are not only respected, but actively valued and celebrated. 

The permanent members of the DEI Committee are:

• Michele CHANG (Chair)
• Julie FAVRIL (Secretariat)
• Charlotte MATHIEU (Secretariat)
• Doris POJANI (Secretariat)
• Pierre BACHELIER
• Natalia MIKHELI
• Anna GRIECO
• LuÍs MATOS
• Peter COUVENT
• Colm LAVELLE
• Jacopo GIRAUDO
• Maria Vittoria PRISCO
• Felicitas HUCK
• Ann VAN VOOREN
• Sieglinde GSTÖHL
• Xhafer RAKIPLLARI
• Sten VERHOEVEN
• Frederik MESDAG
• Julie ORTEGAT-TRAEN
• Steven DE RUYSSCHER
• Sacha GARBEN
• Charlotte DEMUYT

At the start of each academic year, a call for interest is launched, inviting interested students, staff and faculty members to join the Committee. Recurring members are the Student Representatives, SAGE and the Queeropeans.