The annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit at the University of Colorado at Boulder the past two days emphasized that our entire campus community must work together to build a framework of action that makes diversity a regular part of all we do at CU.

The effort to do this is building on a strong foundation of an increasingly diverse student body. Enrollment this fall at CU-Boulder showed strides in both graduate student diversity and greater retention of diverse populations among our undergraduate students. And we held strong on numbers of new freshmen of color -- nearly 900 in our freshman class of 5,519.

These successes build on an upward trend in diversity that in 2008 saw CU-Boulder enroll its largest, most diverse and most academically qualified class ever.

This fall, 17 of our 68 new tenure-track faculty members are of non-Caucasian ethnicity, while 15 others chose not to disclose their ethnicity.

Ethnically, geographically and intellectually diverse students across the nation have made CU-Boulder their destination -- a great fact to build on. But retaining these students and faculty, and building a community of inclusive excellence, requires more efforts still from the administration, faculty, staff and of course, CU-Boulder's student body.

Students can play a central, vital role in creating a welcoming, inclusive environment on campus by acting as a responsible person of conscience and as an open advocate for diversity. By challenging racist speech, whether in the form of graffiti, jokes or outright declarations, majority students can send a message to diverse students -- and indeed, to the entire CU community -- that they are truly invested in building an inclusive environment.

Likewise, when bias-motivated incidents occur, it is just as important that majority students on campus respond with a message of zero tolerance and support as it is for administrators and CU officials to do so. In fact, peer-to-peer response can be key to creating reconciliation, focus, and renewed dedication to building a diverse community from the ground up.

In the end, diversity and inclusion are not forged by administrative policies and declarations. They are forged by the hard work of dialogue, decision and action engaged on a backdrop of basic commitment. More and more, I believe our backdrop at CU-Boulder is strengthening, but I want to challenge every sector of our community to redouble individual efforts.

Ask yourself what you can do to advance diversity and inclusion, then act on these core values. Be a tireless supporter of a more welcoming environment here, in Boulder and indeed, across our nation.

Philip P. DiStefano is the chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder.