The principal aim of The North Star Project is to create an academic culture and environment that allows students from a diverse range of backgrounds to excel, thereby improving the retention of these students and consequently increasing the diversity of the University of Oregon’s physics department.  The North Star approach weaves a symbiosis among undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty, and thus creates multidimensional opportunities for conversations and involvement in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The North Star Project was founded in 2016 by Physics Professor Benjamín J. Alemán. North Star collaborates with an NSF-funded national network of campus-based diversity programs known as the Access Network (http://accessnetwork.org/).