For Your Information | October 1, 2020

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Dear Friends,

Welcome back! Fall quarter is in session! Election season has also started, and in these remarks, please allow me to share some of the programming and resources that have been prepared for you. 

First, we recognize that this season is stressful, so we are sharing information that we think will be of both interest and use. Our Division of Student Affairs has excellent information online about voting–if you haven’t seen them already, here are two websites that can help: Aggies Vote, Are you ready to vote? 

We also want to be sure that you know that taking care of your mental health doesn’t stop just because we are in a virtual environment. Resources and appointments with counselors are available (See: Each Aggie Matters, Counselors). Student Affairs also has group therapy and You Got This (YGT) Workshops: Coping with Emotions, Coping with Anxiety. UC Davis Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion will also have a Coping as a Community session in late October that deals with anxiety. If you missed any of the earlier webinars, they are accessible online. Here are some sessions that are coming up: 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
The President of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice will speak at UC Davis on the topic: The Intersection of Social Justice, Health, and Well-being.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020
King Hall – The School of Law has stellar seminars that are free, and open to all; you just need to register! On October 15 from 12-1:00 p.m., they encourage you to join them “for a panel discussion with law professors who will examine the upcoming 2020 election and cover subjects ranging from criminal, immigration, health, administrative law and voter suppression.” Speakers: 

• Raquel E. Aldana – The Promise for Immigration and Criminal Justice Reforms
• Ashutosh A. Bhagwat - Future of the Administrative State
• Christopher S. Elmendorf - Voting Rights and the U.S. Senate
• Lisa C. Ikemoto - Health Care Law and Reproductive Rights and Justice
• Lisa R. Pruitt – Rural and Working-Class White Voters in the Era of Trump

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig (Boston University School of Law) will be a guest speaker for the Racial Justice series, and will discuss The Trauma of Injustice. 

Join us for these events, and please tune in for others that are forthcoming. All the best this quarter!

Kind Regards,

Renetta G. Tull
Vice Chancellor

Aggies Vote!

The election is 33 days away - be prepared! Visit Aggies Vote for registration information, resources such as campus ballot drop-off locations, key dates, information about statewide ballot measures and a helpful guide created by ASUCD.

UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Office of Campus Community Relations | AEVC Rahim Reed

Campus Community Book Project – Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney

The UC Davis Campus Community Book Project (CCBP) is thrilled to announce our 2020-2021 program of events. In its nineteenth year, the book project focuses on the topic of mental health and features graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney. In support of our theme and selection, the Campus Community Book Project organizes a year-long program of lectures, panels, workshops, book discussions, film screenings, exhibits, performances, and more, which will be offered virtually via Zoom. We invite you to visit the Campus Community Book Project Events page and subscribe to our online calendar for up-to-date information on our programs and to register for events. 

This year’s book project program reflects partnerships with nearly 40 campus and community collaborators. The Campus Community Book Project is especially proud to partner with First-Year Seminars, University Writing Program, and other departments and programs to encourage UC Davis instructors to teach the book project in coursework across the disciplines. 

Students, faculty, staff, and community members are all welcome to participate in the Campus Community Book Project. For more information on getting involved with the book project, or for any other questions, please contact ccbp@ucdavis.edu.

Call for Nominations: 2020-2021 Diversity Awareness Workshops

We invite you to participate in or nominate a faculty or staff colleague for the 2020-2021 Diversity Awareness Workshops sponsored by the Office of Campus Community Relations.

Initiated in 1993, the Diversity Awareness Workshop, which is a part of our Diversity Education Program, aims to build awareness about the diversity of our campus community and engage in important conversations about ways of making our campus more inclusive and welcoming. As our campus continues to grow, these types of important dialogues are more imperative to ensure that we continue to aspire towards an environment that is inclusive of our diversity. 

This fall the first of our two-day diversity workshops is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, November 16 and 17, 2020 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, with more sessions planned in winter and spring. Space is limited, so please respond by October 16, 2020 in order to be considered. If you are interested in participating in or would like to nominate a colleague for one of our sessions, please complete the online Participant Interest Form.

If selected, participants will receive a confirmation letter with additional information; those not selected this year will be notified and their names will be placed on the waiting list, and they will receive priority for future sessions. At this time, we are only able to consider participants who have not attended the workshop in previous years. If you have any questions, please e-mail Sunny Dosanjh or at (530) 754‑0610.

Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion | AVC Hendry Ton

Mexican Government Honors Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola with Ohtli Award

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, has received a prestigious award from the Mexican government for his work in advocating for the rights of Mexican nationals in the United States. The recognition – known as the Ohtli Award – is the highest honor granted by the Mexican government to individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving the well-being of Mexicans, Mexican Americans and other Latinos abroad. Read the article here.

Partnership encourages Native Americans to pursue health care careers

The UC Davis School of Medicine has joined with two other universities and a regional health board in a collaborative effort to increase the number of Native Americans practicing health care. The joint project, called Reimagine Indians into Medicine, or RISE, stands to substantially increase the total number of Native medical and health science students nationwide, which in turn can decrease health disparities and improve public health. “The UC Davis School of Medicine is firmly committed to reducing health disparities, and one of the most successful ways to achieve that is to matriculate more students from diverse backgrounds,” said Dr. Allison Brashear, Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine. “Studies show that students who belong to underrepresented minority groups are drawn to careers in medicine where they can care for underserved populations – which also happen to have the greatest health disparities.” Read the full article

Office of Academic Diversity | Interim AVC Lorena Oropeza

2020 CAMPOS and CAMPSSAH New Faculty Orientation

CAMPOS recently welcomed its sixth cohort and now includes more than thirty Faculty Scholars total from eight colleges and schools. The newly-created CAMPSSAH inducted its second cohort for a total of thirteen facultyacross twelve disciplines. The mission of both centers is to promote the research and accomplishments of its scholars who help diversify the perspectives and experiences of the university’s faculty.

From September 21-23, more than twenty new Faculty Scholars from the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) and Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Social Science, Arts, and Humanities (CAMPSSAH) interacted with leaders and service providers from across campus to help them understand the breadth of support available to them as they begin their careers at UC Davis.

Organized by the Faculty Directors, Mariel Vazquez (CAMPOS) and Kimberly Nettles-Barcelón (CAMPSSAH), and newly appointed interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Lorena Oropeza, the orientation included information about:

• the process of tenure, merit, and promotion from Academic Affairs, who was joined by a panel of experts representing Faculty Personnel Committees from the various colleges and schools of the Faculty Scholars;
• news and media relations and social media from Strategic Communications;
• successfully navigating the process of applying for grants from the Office of Research;
• the global connections between faculty and students facilitated by Global Affairs;
• the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s broad responsibility for promoting equity in higher education; and
• strategies to overcome the challenges presented by remote learning from the Center for Educational Effectiveness, who was joined by a representative from the Student Disability Center

Unearthing Indigenous Land Dispossession in the Founding of the University of California

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and new CAMPSSAH Faculty Scholar Kat Whiteley(Wiyot) assistant professor in Native American Studies, presented some of her research at the Centers for Educational Justice & Communicate Engagement forum on the “University of California Land Grab.” Viewed by more than five hundred participants, Whiteley discussed “The ‘Lost’ Treaties of California: Dispossession, Memory and Futures.” You can watch the entire forum from Part 1 here. Part 2, “From Land-grab to Land Acknowledgement and Beyond” takes place on October 23. You can learn more and register here.

EVENTS

October 2, Friday

Cal Fresh 101 | 10:00AM
Cal NERDS and CalFresh in the Basic Needs Center have come together to help you during these challenging times. CalFresh is California's food stamps (SNAP) program. Learn how to get money on an EBT card to help pay for food. Many students qualify for Cal Fresh, but never knew that they did! In our efforts to provide you with more resources, we want to invite you to a virtual CalFresh Info Sessions. Register here.

October 7, Wednesday

Successful Treatment of Chemical & Electrical Sensitivity | 12:00PM
Do you hate perfume or cologne? Do you avoid the detergent aisle in stores? You may be experiencing chemical sensitivity. Come learn more about how we are affected by our environment and successful treatments from Dr. Lisa Nagy. October is Disability Awareness Month and 2020 is the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Join us for this online webinar, register here.

October 9, Friday

Book Project: Mental Health and the Power of Resilience | 2:00PM
A talk by Hendry Ton, associate vice chancellor, Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UC Davis Health & clinical professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Sponsored by the Campus Community Book Project and held in conjunction with NAMI Yolo County Mental Illness Awareness Week. The 2020-21 book project features a yearlong program around graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney, and the overall theme of mental health. Register here. See the full CCBP calendar here.

October 12, Monday

Book Project: El impacto de COVID-19 en la salud mental de los Latinos | 3:00PM
A talk by Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Director, Center for Reducing Health Disparities; Director, Community Engagement Program, Clinical Translational Science Center; & Professor, Internal Medicine. This presentation will be offered in Spanish. Register here. See the full CCBP calendar here.

The Intersection of Social Justice, Health, and Well-being | 9:00AM
Featuring the keynote address by Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D., President and Dean, Morehouse School of Medicine. As part of Global Diversity Awareness Month, the School of Medicine is hosting a virtual address via Facebook Live. Will include a Q&A with Chancellor Gary S. May and Dean Allison Brashear. Join at facebook.com/UCDMedicine.

October 13, Tuesday

Book Project: The Impact of COVID-19 on Latino Mental Health | 3:00PM
A talk by Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Director, Center for Reducing Health Disparities; Director, Community Engagement Program, Clinical Translational Science Center; & Professor, Internal Medicine. This presentation will be offered in English. Register here. See the full CCBP calendar here.

October 19, Monday

Cal Fresh 101 | 10:00AM
Cal NERDS and CalFresh in the Basic Needs Center have come together to help you during these challenging times. CalFresh is California's food stamps (SNAP) program. Learn how to get money on an EBT card to help pay for food. Many students qualify for Cal Fresh, but never knew that they did! In our efforts to provide you with more resources, we want to invite you to a virtual CalFresh Info Sessions. Register here.

October 19-24

Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Virtual Conference
Calling all SACNISTAS, and/or soon to be SACNISTAS this fall! Lolita Adkins is the program manager at the Undergraduate Research Center (URC) and the UC Davis SACNAS staff coordinator and I would like to coordinate a list of participants (students, faculty, postdocs, and staff) who plan to attend the SACNAS Virtual Conference October 19-24.  Please let us know if you will be going by completing the information in the link. Feel free to pass this email along to others so we can spread the net far and wide. Complete the LINK if you plan to attend.

October 21, Wednesday

“The family in inequality debates” - UC Davis School of Law Racial Justice Speaker Series | 12:15PM
Robin A. Lenhardt (Professor, Georgetown Law) was formerly a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. Professor Lenhardt specializes in matters pertaining to race, family, and citizenship. Before entering legal academia, Professor Lenhardt held a number of positions in the private and non-profit sectors. Register here.

October 23, Friday

The University of California Land Grab - Part 2: From Land-grab to Land Acknowledgement and Beyond | 9:00am - 12:30pm
This two-part forum examines the 150,000 acres of Indigenous land that funded the University of California is intricately tied to California’s unique history of Native dispossession and genocide, and how UC continues to benefit from this wealth accumulation today. We will then explore current university initiatives with tribes and engage in a community dialogue on actions the University of California can take to address their responsibility to California Indigenous communities. Learn more and register here.

October 26-28

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities 34th Annual Virtual Conference

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has announced more than 50 workshops will be offered virtually under the theme, “Championing Hispanic Higher Education: Fostering Excellence and Social Justice,” as part of its 34th Annual Conference, October 26-28, 2020. A virtual exhibitor experience will also be included. General conference workshops will include topics of interest to Hispanic-Serving Institutions, offered under six tracks. A separate student track will be offered for undergraduates under HACU’s ¡Adelante! Leadership Institute. Learn more here.

October 27, Tuesday

“The trauma of injustice” - UC Davis School of Law Racial Justice Speaker Series | 12:15PM
Angela Onwuachi-Willig (Dean, Boston University School of Law) A graduate of Grinnell College (B.A.), University of Michigan Law School (J.D.), and Yale University (Ph.D.), Angela Onwuachi-Willig is Dean and Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. Previously, she served as Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the UC Berkeley. She is author of According to Our Hearts: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the Law of the Multiracial Family and numerous articles in leading law journals. Register here.

RECOMMENDED READING

Ackerman-Barger, K. & Jacobs, N.N. (2020, Dec.). The microaggressions triangle model: A humanistic approach to navigating microaggression in health professions schools.
Associate Dean for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Director of Faculty Development for Education and Teaching, and Associate Clinical Professor in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing Ackerman-Barger discusses the Microaggressions Triangle Model, which is a framework for understanding microaggressions from a human interaction standpoint. At each point in the model, the authors provide approaches designed to help recipients, sources, and bystanders construct responses that may allow for rebuilding. Read the article here.

UCLA Health Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, “2020 LDC U.S. Latino GDP Report, Quantifying the New American Economy,” September 29, 2020.
The 2020 edition of the U.S. Latino GDP Report was released this week by the Latino Donor Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping the perception of Latinos as part of the American social mainstream. “The report shows that, during 2018, the nearly 60 million Latinos living in the U.S. generated the world’s eighth largest gross domestic product (GDP),” said Matthew Fienup, Executive Director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University, one of the report’s co-authors. Read the press release. Read the report.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Counseling Services Mental Health Resources Webinar [requires Kerberos log-in] One of the things we hear frequently from instructors about teaching in Spring 2020 is the extent to which they encountered students in their courses experiencing significant stress or crisis, yet they felt unequipped to help or direct students to resources. To help, Counseling Services provided a Mental Health Resources Webinar. If supporting students in crisis is a concern for you, please watch this previously-recorded webinar. Webinar topics include an overview of mental health services on campus, how to make referrals, signs of distress and how to respond, and how faculty can support students in the classroom (remote or on-campus). Student Affairs has also provided this folder of faculty resources.

Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center We are a student community space where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables during Fruit & Veggie Up!, get CalFresh enrollment assistance and find resources to help you find stable housing and financial assistance. 

Food Resources for UC Davis Students and Community Members Food is one of the most basic and important human needs, yet an increasing number of college students are going hungry as food insecurity gets worse. Food insecurity can not only lead to poor health, but it can also have detrimental effects on a student's academic, professional, and social life. Food insecurity can be brought on by various factors, including limited food access and financial difficulties. Here in Davis, there is a variety of fresh and health foods in grocery stores, restaurants, and farmer’s markets.

Campus Ready With the anticipation that our on-campus community will increase gradually over the next several months, we are introducing a robust COVID-19 plan to ensure that UC Davis is “campus ready” for you. What does campus ready mean? It means phases of return to campus. New policies, guidelines and protocols to minimize exposure. And a campus wide approach that follows prevention best practices including wearing face coverings, physical distancing, frequent sanitization and symptom monitoring.

Keep Teaching Instructional Resilience at UC Davis. To support UC Davis faculty during a time of COVID-19-related illness, quarantine, or campus closure, this site provides concise, practical resources and strategies for moving part or all of a course online to help you keep teaching.  

UC Davis Office for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion COVID resources page In English and Spanish to reach our communities and we are actively updating with new resources.

Content Submission Form

Do you have a DEI-oriented event, announcement, or article that you would like us to help promote through our DEI communication channels? Did your unit/department or a member of your unit/department receive recognition that demonstrates your commitment to DEI? If so, please send us your information through this online form.

We invite you to share and submit your thoughts and items for our newsletter (either current or future news and events) at diversityinclusion@ucdavis.edu

Thank you for your dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion!

#ThinkBigDiversity
https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/