For Your Information | August 20, 2020

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Download a printable version of this week's newsletter

Dear Friends,

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome and introduce to campus our new Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity, Dr. Lorena Oropeza! Dr. Oropeza is a full professor in the Department of History at Davis and is a member of the Academic Senate. Her experience is vast! She has advanced through all of the faculty ranks for tenure and promotion here at UC Davis. Following a dissertation fellowship at UC Santa Barbara, Dr. Oropeza started her career at Davis as an Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor, and later to Full Professor. In joining DEI, she steps down from her position as Graduate Program Chair for History and will bring her experience as a former Co-Director of the Chicana/Latina Research Center. 

I am very pleased that Dr. Oropeza accepted the offer to join us. Our team is excited and inspired by her leadership! In addition to her work at UC Davis, her talents are recognized externally. I took this photo of Dr. Oropeza at a meeting hosted by UC Berkeley earlier this year and posted a tweet as she moderated the faculty advancement session of the 2020 UC-wide Chicanx/Latinx Leadership Summit.

She has served arts centers and media in roles of board member president, board member, and historical commentator. Further, she has participated on-camera in projects that were broadcast by CSPAN3 and PBS. Lorena's awards and accolades include, but are not limited to: The Norris and Carol Hundley Prize for Outstanding Book 2019 - awarded by the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, American Historical Association Equity Award – 2017, UC Davis Chancellor’s Award for Community and Diversity – 2017, UC Davis Humanities Center Faculty Research Fellowship – 2017, PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award for Multicultural Excellence – 2007, and International Latino Book Award Winner, Best History Book in English – 2006. In 2019, UC Davis nominated Dr. Oropeza for the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU) La Academia de Liderazgo/Leadership Academy, and she was recently chosen to be a member of the national class of scholar-leaders for 2020-2021. A national HACU press release and a UC Davis story highlighting Dr. Oropeza’s leadership will be posted today. As Dr. Oropeza takes on the role of Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity (AVC-AD), we also thank our outgoing AVC-AD, Professor Raquel Aldana, JD, who continues to lead as a faculty member in our Law School, King Hall. 

NEW INITIATIVES FOR FALL 2020
This past summer, DEI asked the campus community to spend time on our “Resources for Racial Trauma” website, and to take time to read, learn, listen, and reflect. We also asked both academic and non-academic units to become familiar with the Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Vision–D&ISV and to think about ways that new, revised, or reinvigorated action plans for anti-racism and equity resulting from the various June statements that expressed sorrow at racial injustice would connect to the 5 Goals of the D&ISV. This Fall, DEI will be rolling out a new plan that includes:  

1. Anti-racism and implicit bias training and professional development
2. Examination of the campus’ diversity data related to Goals 1 and 2 of the D&I Strategic Vision
3. Convening a working group to assist with developing survey questions to assess campus climate related to Goals 1-5.  

This plan shares the general next action steps for the DEI office, however it does not negate initiatives that are already underway by various departments and units. DEI’s plan is complementary; it is an evolving work-in-progress that will include input from constituent groups and stakeholders from our campus community. As a step toward cohesion, we ask you to join us on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at 11 AM PDT as we come together as a campus to consider the framework for this ongoing plan and learn from two of our top scholars, Dr. Maisha Winn and Dr. Lawrence Winn, as they discuss, “Restoring Justice: Transforming Education at UC Davis.” Professor M. Winn and Professor L. Winn will provide us with common ground for the framework of the 5 pedagogical stances of Histories, Race, Justice, Language, and Futures. This framework will shape DEI’s development of the Fall 2020 initiative outlined above, and it can be used to inform campus units as you customize your own internal plans and activities. Thank you in advance for joining us. More than 1,200 people have registered so far, and we have room for more! We’ll look forward to seeing you next week!   

Kind Regards,

Renetta G. Tull, Vice Chancellor

“Restoring Justice: Transforming Education at UC Davis” | August 26, 11:00AM
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Transformative Justice in Education Center cordially invite you to attend a campus-wide talk. This webinar will provide the UC Davis community with an opportunity to continue our on-going dialogues that recognize and address issues of bias and structural inequality. Dr. Maisha T. Winn, Professor and Associate Dean, School of Education, and Dr. Lawrence Winn, Assistant Professor of Teaching, are the co-directors of  the Transformative Justice in Education Center, and will assist with a baseline and common framing around examining histories and futures with attention to race, justice, and language. Register Here

UC Davis Becomes Charter member of SEA Change Initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
In 2019, UC Davis was one of three universities to receive SEA Change’s inaugural award for completing a self-assessment of policies and culture and creating an action plan demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion within the institution. The initiative supports systemic change by encouraging universities to reform their policies and procedures that marginalize or exclude individuals on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, disability status and more. Read the story here.

Action Planning Update
We were thrilled by number of ally statements we received from units across campus over the last few months. We want to continue to build on the momentum of the amazing work that is being done to address racial inequality and social injustice across campus and in the community. Let’s continue to demonstrate how committed we are to positive change by putting our words into action (plans). If your unit has not done so already, consider showcasing your commitment to DEI by sending us your unit’s action plan, which outlines the changes your unit is and will be making, and we will post them to our DEI website.

UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Office of Campus Community Relations | AEVC Rahim Reed

The Urban Advocates and Achievers (UAA) Sacramento NSBE Jr Chapter Highlight Video

The UAA is a Pre-College Initiative of the National Society of Black Engineers designed to increase the number of middle and high school students in higher education in STEM fields and is open to all students. The UAA, in partnership with SES Robotics, Inc., Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the University of California, Davis (UCD), officially launched the UAA Sacramento NSBE Jr Chapter on October 25, 2019 for students in the Sacramento Region. Students have the opportunity to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and careers while participating in monthly, year-round workshops and fieldtrips. Watch this year’s highlight video here!

Local artists respond to pandemic, current events with pavement paintings

In late July, local artist Tony Tran, also known as shyboytoto, created a striking painting on the Mrak Terrace of International House Davis titled “Imagine a World Where Everyone Counts” — envisioning a community in which all people feel safe, empowered and free to express their identities joyfully. His work is part of the #Plan4Resilience series of pavement paintings spearheaded by Danielle Fodor and supported by the city of Davis Arts and Cultural Affairs program. Read the article here.

Meet Your 2020-2021 Latinx Staff & Faculty Association Executive Board

The mission of the Latinx Staff and Faculty Association (LSFA) is to provide information about the campus community and to offer professional guidance to those seeking support or career advancement. LSFA will act as a collaborative unit and advocate for the concerns and issues at the University and Community level for staff, faculty, and students. Please visit the LSFA webpage to read more.

Carlos C. Garcia (He) - Chair
Roxanne Grijalva (She/Her/Hers) - Ex-Officio
Ignacio/Nacho Alarcón - Vice Chair
Gisela Escalera (She/Her/Hers) - Treasurer
Daisey Sandoval (She/Her/Hers) - Fundraising Chair
Jorge Mendoza - Outreach Chair
Vanessa Alvarez (She/Her/Ella) - Historian
Enrique Guzmán (He/Him/His/Él) - Secretary

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

News from the Capitol City Black Nurses Association

The Capitol City Black Nurses Association announces the 1st Annual Nursing Scholarship Application, due August 21st, 2020. The link to scholarship applications can be found at ccbna.org. The Virtual Ceremony, sponsored by UC Davis Health's Office for Health Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, will be held September 26th, at 11:00a via Zoom. 

In honor of Dr. Ackerman-Barger, CCBNA is recognizing her career dedicated to diversity and inclusion in nursing education. Dr. Ackerman-Barger is a founding member of CCBNA and a huge catalyst in the creation of the organization. CCBNA has created the scholarship in her honor for current nursing students who meet the application requirements upon submission. Student selection may range from Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) students all the way to Master prepared nursing student. This fund is created for the purpose of mitigating financial hardship and to recognize the phenomenal community service work that many African American students complete. The scholarship is for graduate level nurses (i.e. MSN, NP, PhD) who are conducting or presenting nursing research/projects that has a focus/aim on African American health and the disparities that exist in the community.

Office of Academic Diversity | Interim AVC Lorena Oropeza

2020-2021 CAMPSSAH Faculty Scholars Announced

The new Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Social Science, Arts, and Humanities (CAMPSSAH) is pleased to announce the second cohort of Faculty Scholars. The mission of CAMPSSAH is to recognize and support scholars that bring multicultural perspectives in their research, a commitment to mentoring underrepresented and minoritized students, and outreach to underserved communities both locally and globally through their research. CAMPSSAH Faculty Scholars contribute to the diversity of faculty by moving us toward creating a critical mass of BIPOC and ally scholars.

This year we welcome six outstanding scholars in six different disciplines within the College of Letters and Science. They were nominated by their dean and selected based on their scholarly excellence and their contributions to diversity through research, teaching and service. CAMPSSAH Faculty Director, Kimberly Nettles-Barcelón read each file with excitement and found their “commitments to ground-breaking, community focused and globally aware research, teaching, and writing critical to the expanding UC Davis’ commitment to excellence.” These six new faculty members will be joining seven other exceptional CAMPSSAH Faculty Scholars from our inaugural cohort. The goal is to continue to grow these communities of scholars in order to create meaningful opportunities for engagement and to build bridges for interdisciplinary collaboration and synergy between and among CAMPSSAH and CAMPOS Scholars and other interested scholars at UC Davis. You can read more about the new Faculty Scholars here.

Kathleen Cruz
Classics

Beenash Jafri
Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies

Michael Singh
Chicana/o Studies

Emily Celeste Vázquez Enríquez
Spanish and Portuguese

Benjamin D. Weber
African-American and African Studies

Kathleen “Kat” Whiteley (Wiyot)
Native American Studies

EVENTS

August 20, Thursday

Alumni Career Mentorship Webinar Series – Women of Color in Leadership Roles | 4:00PM

Undergraduate Admissions (UA) and the African and African American Alumni Association, Chicanx/Latinx Alumni Association, and Native American Alumni Association congratulate our incoming students on their admission to UC Davis. During the upcoming summer months, UA will be hosting the inaugural Alumni Career Mentorship Webinar Series for our incoming Freshmen and Transfer students. Register Now

PolicyMatters: Will the kids be all right? | 1:00PM

CalMatters hosts a conversation on the long-term impact of the pandemic on the mental health of kids in California. How will this continued state of isolation during the pandemic affect the long-term mental health of children in California? If you’re a parent, teacher, care provider or guardian, join us as we explore this question and discuss the impact of this unprecedented time on our state’s youth. CalMatters health and welfare reporter Elizabeth Aguilera will moderate the conversation about the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on mental health, what behaviors to watch for in your child and how to help them cope with the stress of the pandemic. Register Here.

August 21, Friday

Growing as a Community: Advancing Racial and Health Equity | 12:00PM

As our communities grapple with the historic social injustices across our nation, it’s important to hear from our leaders about the importance of adopting an equity and anti-racism lens to aid in the healing of racial trauma for the wellbeing of our communities. Join the Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the next installment in the series - Growing as a Community: Advancing Health and Racial Equity. The speakers will discuss the following: Anti-racism strategies we can utilize on our campus; Coming to terms with our own biases; The need and importance for physicians and healthcare workers to uphold health and racial equity in our workplace, home, and communities; and Next steps for healthcare leaders to advance health and racial equity. Please register here: bit.ly/GrowingasaCommunity8-21

August 25, Tuesday

Chancellor's Colloquium with Gary Younge -- "Going Viral: Race, Racism, and Rebellion in the Midst of a Pandemic" | 4:00PM

The Chancellor’s Colloquium is an annual speaker series that excites the imagination and challenges the way we see the world. From musicians and academics, to actors, authors and more, this diverse group of intellectuals addresses some of society’s most critical issues in thoughtful, yet unconventional ways. During these physically distancing times, we invite you to enjoy and embrace the dialogue virtually on your electronic device (computer, smart phone, tablet, etc.). The webinar access instructions will be sent by e-mail after you complete your on-line registration below. Learn more and register here.

RECOMMENDED READING

From our partners in Global Affairs:

“Global Aggies: Thinking Globally and Acting Locally During COVID-19”

When the Yolo Food Bank began running a new delivery service to meet the increased need for food in Davis and its surrounding communities in Yolo County during the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Davis delivered volunteers, including staff members, undergraduate students, and visiting Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows Issam Chariag of Tunisia, Fabrice Inkonkoy of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zuomei Ning of China. Read article here.

UC Davis Named Top Producer of Gilman Scholars

Gilman Scholarships are awards of up to $5,000 offered to outstanding undergraduates who receive federal Pell Grants, enabling them to pursue and participate in global learning opportunities they might otherwise be unable to due to costs. And for the second time in the past three years, UC Davis has been recognized as a Top Producer of Gilman Scholars for the 2018–19 academic year—with the university producing the third highest number of Gilman Scholars, at 51, among all U.S. universities with over 15,000 undergraduates. Read the article here.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Accessibility at UC Davis
At UC Davis, we are committed to making our programs, activities and services accessible and to providing equal opportunities to individuals with disabilities. This website summarizes the rights of individuals with disabilities under university policy, federal law, and state law, and provides information about accessing University programs and facilities for the campus community. We hope that, whether you are a student, employee, or visitor, this website will help you meet your accessibility needs, as well as the needs of those with whom you interact on a regular basis.

Free Transportation for Vulnerable Elderly Adults
United Cerebral Palsy is offering free (donation optional) trips to vulnerable adults over 65 years of age, individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, individuals with compromised immune systems, as well as to individuals with serious chronic medical conditions. They can accommodate wheelchairs or other assistive mobility devices e.g. canes, walkers. In addition, they are available to do delivery trips such as picking up a pre-purchased grocery order, meals, prescription, pharmacy items, etc. For more information please visit their website. 

The UC Davis Office for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion developed a COVID resources page on our website 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/