University farm dorms and office, 1912

History of DEI at UCD

Here is a list of important moments in our history of diversity and inclusion. (Something missing? Please e-mail Tom O'Donnell with the details and we'll get it added.) 

1914

West Hall completed; first women students arrive on campus from UC Berkeley

1918

Women admitted to Farm School

1919

Disabled veterans receive vocational training at University farm

1928

Celeste Turner (Wright) becomes first regular woman faculty member and first Ph.D. in humanities at Davis

1964

University of California Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) established by the U.C. Regents

UCD established a scholarship program for the “culturally deprived” called the Educational Aid Program (EAP). By 1967-68 was sponsoring 15-20 students (9 self-identified Chicano student)

1967 First Chicano Student Organization (C.S.O.) created at UCD to recruitment Chicano students to UCD. Name changed to United Mexican American Students (UMAS) in 1968
  Chancellor Emil Mrak meets with Drs. Roberto Haro (Researcher at UCD’s Institute for Government Affairs) and Rosemary Pangborn (first Chicana/o professor on campus – nutrition expert) on the employment of Raza staff in admissions, and in counseling roles that eventually became part of the EOP efforts at Davis.  Mrak is first Chancellor to support initiatives for Raza
1968 UCD “Urban Crisis Committee” formed to develop goals and strategies for recruiting and selecting more minority students. Later that year, this committee was merged with EAP and became known as the UCD Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
1969

Ethnic Studies program including African American and African Studies, Asian American Studies, Native American Studies, and Chicana and Chicano Studies established.

 

First campus building named after a female faculty member, Gladys Everson Hall

 

Native American Studies at UC Davis began as a program, originally housed within the Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences, in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

 

Jesus Leyba appointed as “ Special Assistant to the Chancellor – Chicano Affairs”. Three UCD faculty F.T.E. made available to establish a Mexican American Studies program.  Gustavo Gonzalez, Gilberto Rojas, Beto Juarez.

1970 Chicano (Mexican-American) Studies courses developed and taught by new faculty; History, Spanish and Linguistics.
1971 Joe Singleton, Aggie athletics pioneer, hired as first African-American Athletics Director. A 1993 inductee into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame, he later was honored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

1972

Chicanx/Latinx in Health Education (CHE) founded from a desire by students, the community, and the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) to increase the number of Chicanx/Latinx students interested in pursuing careers in the health field. Over the years, CHE at UC Davis has provided its members academic, professional, cultural and social support in order to succeed and ultimately pursue a graduate level education while also giving back to undeserved communities

 

U.C. President’s Task Force presents report on the Status of Chicanos in the U.C. System, identifying paucity of numbers at all levels of faculty, staff and students. Report calls for system-wide programs of affirmative action, outreach, admissions. Committee headed by Dr. Jesus Chavarria, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Chicano Research Center at UC Santa Barbara.

1973

The C.N. Gorman Museum established in honor of Carl Nelson Gorman, Navajo artist, WWII code-talker, cultural history, advocate for Native peoples, and founding faculty member of Native American Studies

1974 Clinica Tepati established
1975 Leslie Campbell, Senior Associate Director–Undergraduate Admissions, starts 28-year career at UC Davis. Campbell was a driving force and stalwart champion of educational opportunities for all people, especially those in underserved communities. Campbell is the namesake of student residence hall, Campbell Hall.

1978

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decided by the U.S. Supreme Court; the Court decided that affirmative action in college admissions was constitutional, but that racial quotas like those used by the University of California at the time, were not.

1981

Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program founded

1985

Native American Studies major established

  First continuous annual UCD Chicano/Latino Graduation Celebration
1987 Casa Cuauhtémoc opens

1990

UC Davis becomes one of the first institutions to implement a campus-wide community values statement (reaffirmed 2001, 2008, 2010)

 

The first Soaring to New Heights multicultural celebration of diversity takes place at UC Davis

 

Hunger Strike for Ethnic Studies; Hxstory of Cross Cultural Center

1993

Diversity Awareness Workshops launch

1996

Proposition 209 passes in California. UC issues its first guidance on enhancing diversity within the context of the new law

1998

Graduate Program in Native American Studies Established, making UC Davis the second university in the country to offer a Ph.D. in the discipline.

2000

Barbara Horowitz, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (2000-09), led significant efforts to diversify UC Davis

  Diversity Trainers Institute established. The Student Affairs Task Force on Campus Community provided recommendations to formalize practices and procedures that would enhance support of campus diversity and the UC Davis Principles of Community. The Diversity Trainers Institute consists of UC Davis staff members who develop training modules/course curricula and serve as diversity trainers/educators for the campus, while also serving as instructors of the various diversity-related courses offered through Staff Development and Professional Services and Human Resources Learning & Development

2001

Dr. Rahim Reed arrives at UC Davis, and UC Davis becomes the first UC campuses with a senior-level position and office (Office of Campus Community Relations) dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and campus climate

  Cruz Reynoso, joins the faculty at King Hall at UC Davis.

2002

The UC Davis Community Book Project is established, one of the first of its kind at a major university

2004

The Middle East/South Asia Studies (ME/SA) program and minor established

2005

The Center for Reducing Health Disparities is founded at UCD Health

2006

Diversity Statement adopted by the UC Academic Senate, UC President, and UC Board of Regents

2007

Center for Regional Change opened

 

UC Davis sets the aspiration to become an Hispanic Serving Institution by 2020

2008

UC Davis’s diversity education program begins a significant expansion

2008

The Middle East/South Asia Studies (ME/SA) major launched.  

2008

Kevin R. Johnson becomes First Latino Dean of UC Davis School of Law

2009

UC Davis submits a “Diversity Annual Accountability Sub-Report” to the University of California, which effectively serves as the first diversity and inclusion strategic planning and accountability document for the campus

 

UC Davis Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) center opens, conceived and operated by the UC Davis Department of Chicana/o Studies and is dedicated to inspiring local youth and reinforcing culture through silk-screening, mural painting and other classes

  Asian American Studies becomes a department

2010

Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement established at UCD Health

2010

Launch of the Principles of Community online course

2011

Publication of the strategic plan, Excellence in People and Campus Climate: A Framework for Diversity, at UCD Health

 

Maureen Stanton, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, led first implicit bias workshop for faculty search committee

2012

UC Davis launches its ADVANCE Institutional Transformation program, with the aim of advancing women in STEM

2013

Completion of the University of California systemwide campus climate survey

 

First Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Equity and Inclusion appointed

2014

UC Davis invests over 3 million as hiring incentives to hire CAMPOS and IRI scholars. CAMPOS established; Strength Through Equity and Diversity (STEAD) workshops implemented campus-wide, all members of faculty search committees required to participate in STEAD training every three years; established the Hiring Investment Program (HIP).

 

Establishment of the UC Davis Police Accountability Board (PAB) in the Office of Campus Community Relations

2015 Center for African Diaspora Student Success (CADSS) opens. The Center CADSS is a space for African and African American students to engage together in all aspects of life on campus. CADSS provides tools and resources that support students' developmental transformation, empowering them to maximize their potential and positively impact the UC Davis campus.

 

Adela de la Torre becomes first Latina Distinguished Professor

 

Principles of Community revised and reaffirmed

 

UC Davis Faculty Salary Equity Analyses releases; plans for annual salary equity adjustments implemented; created option to submit faculty candidate diversity statements

2016

Forbes ranked UC Davis #1 on list of the 13 most important STEM universities for women

 

Partnership with Pathways to the Professoriate

2017 Gary S. May appointed as first African-American and seventh chancellor of U.C. Davis

 

Required faculty candidate diversity statements

 

The Office of Academic Diversity is established within Student Affairs with the hiring of an Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity (AVCAD)

 

Center for Chicanx and Latinx Academic Student Success (CCLASS) opens

  Native American Academic Student Success Center (NAASSC) opens

 

An Innovation Grants program is established to advance the goals of the Strategic Vision plan. In the first year, 30 different individuals and groups receive a total of $126,000 for their projects

 

“Is It Bullying? Awareness and Strategies” learning module is mandated for all supervisors on campus

 

Institutionalization of ADVANCE under Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Academic Affairs, and other offices

2018

Chancellor May constitutes the HSI Taskforce and charged it with making recommendations to improve the success of all our students, including our Chicanx/Latinx students, and to identify reforms and resources necessary to achieve these goals

 

A new Vice Chancellor’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is established at UC Davis, bringing together four existing units: Campus Community Relations; Office of Academic Diversity; Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Davis Campus; and UC Davis Health’s Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Davis staff is co-located in 129 Mrak Hall, and a search begins for the Vice Chancellor

 

Kevin Johnson Gains 3rd Term as Law Dean, the university's longest-serving dean among those now in office

  The African & African American living-learning community established in Campbell Hall (named after Leslie Campbell, see above 1975)

2019

The UC Davis Chancellor selects Renetta Garrison Tull as Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

  HSI Taskforce issues its report, “Investing in Rising Scholars and Serving the State of California: What it Means for UD Davis to be a Hispanic Serving Institution”