DEI

Noted animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to speak at disability symposium

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:22:24 +0000

Noted animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to speak at disability symposium Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/19/2024 - 15:22

CSU professor credits her autism for her ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook

Temple Grandin, a groundgreaking professor of animal science at Colorado State University whose work has led to the more humane treatment of livestock around the world, will speak at the University of Colorado Boulder Disability Symposium Oct. 8 and 14-18.

According to David Braz, a faculty affairs coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences, the symposium aims to bring attention to people who have traditionally flown under the radar.

“When we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in public settings, and highlight a lot of groups that have been historically excluded, a group that does not seem to get as much attention are individuals with disabilities, whether apparent or not apparent,” he says.

One disability, or different ability, that often goes unseen is autism, something with which Grandin herself is intimately familiar.

Grandin has written several books about autism and her experiences living with it, including Thinking in Pictures, The Autistic Brain and Emergence: Labeled Autistic, which Oliver Sacks said was “unprecedented because there had never before been an inside narrative of autism.”

Though Grandin, who didn’t speak until she was three and a half years old, encountered teasing and bullying growing up, she nevertheless credits her autism with giving her the ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook.

“The thing about the autistic mind is it attends to details,” Grandin said during a TED Talk in 2010. “The normal brain ignores the details.”

It’s this detail-oriented way of thinking that has enabled Grandin to transform the field of animal agriculture globally. Over the course of her decades-long career, she has written more than 400 articles for scientific journals and livestock periodicals and has designed livestock facilities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

Now perhaps one of the most recognizable and beloved scientists in the world, Grandin believes it is important for people to realize that not everyone thinks in the same way, and that’s a good thing. “The world needs all kinds of minds!”

Grandin's presentation will be in-person and on Zoom from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 8. Registration is required.

Grandin's presentation kicks off the weeklong symposium, whose aim is “centering the experiences of persons with disabilities on campus." It will focus on a range of topics, including navigating higher education systems while diagnosed with a disability; how disability and ableism are defined; barriers for disabled veterans in academic settings; medical advocacy; and more.

The symposium has been funded for a second year with support from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The symposium has been made possible through the efforts of the College of Arts and Sciences Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, University Libraries, the Be Well program, CU Disability Services, the Office of People, Engagement and Culture and students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The symposium aims to inform students, staff and faculty but is open to the general public.

Registration is required. Links to register are included with each presentation, and each registration page includes the option to request accommodation if needed for registering.

Please note that some symposium attendees and participants may be immunocompromised. All attendees are encouraged to wear a mask while in attendance.

Each year, CU Boulder strives to create an experience that is accessible and accommodates the needs of those with disabilities. If you identify as having a disability, you will have an opportunity to indicate any accommodation requirements when you register using our online registration system. Please also feel free to e-mail us at asinfo@colorado.edu to let us know how we can better enhance your experience.

CSU professor credits her autism for her ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook.

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Buffs All In, CU Boulder's inaugural giving day, is March 8

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 19:45:42 +0000

Buffs All In, CU Boulder's inaugural giving day, is March 8 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:45

Buffs All In is CU Boulder’s inaugural giving day on March 8, 2023.

If you’re all in for shaping future leaders, fostering innovation and helping humanity, then get ready to team up with fellow Forever Buffs to support CU Boulder’s people, programs and trailblazing spirit. Gifts at every level will make all the difference.

A lot can happen in one day. Are you all in?

Here’s how to pitch in:

Dean’s Fund

As the intellectual core of the university, CU’s College of Arts and Sciences generates new knowledge in more than 60 fields, working to solve some of the world’s most critical problems while enriching our culture and self-understanding.

The College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Fund has one purpose: funding the most urgent and pressing needs of the college. It is A&S’s most flexible and far-reaching fund that allows the dean use as needs arise. These funds allow the dean to quickly respond in crucial situations, and even a small amount can make a difference.

Funds go towards student support, student research, A&S programming, faculty development and acquisition, building improvements and/or emerging A&S initiatives. By supporting the deans fund, you are helping provide flexibility to the College, and broadly supporting all things A&S.

College of Arts and Sciences Scholarship Fund

Every year, the University of Colorado Boulder and the College of Arts & Sciences disburse millions of dollars in scholarship and fellowship aid to students. A large portion of these monies come from gift funds; given by alumni and donors. Scholarships are awarded by the dean’s office and by many of the departments based on academic merit, financial need, extracurricular activities, leadership experience or other considerations

Our college is the largest and most wide-ranging unit at CU Boulder. It also boasts the largest roster of scholarship opportunities-a number which grows every year. We have approximately 500 scholarships, fellowships and awards that serve everyone from classics majors to PhD candidates—and everyone in between! When you make a donation to support A&S scholarships, you support the success of under-resourced students at the College of Arts and Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund

This newly established fund will provide support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programming and initiatives in the college.

Funds may be used for, but are not limited to, special events and partnerships that foster community or bring awareness to DEI, student support through scholarships or stipends, and/or additional support to programs within the College that are focused on DEI. Funds are not intended to support additional staff or salary. The fund manager will decide which fundable opportunities are of the greatest need.

DEI Initiatives:

Student Peer Mentorship
Partnering with Be Well: Assuring Healthy Buffs Series
Cultural Celebrations: (Pride Month, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Black History Month, Juneteenth)

Matching challenge

Scott and Linda Flanders have generously issued a challenge gift of $25,000 if 100 gifts are made to the College of Arts and Sciences on (or by) March 8.

Learn more and join Buffs All In here

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New seminar series explores the nexus of art and activism

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 16:05:16 +0000

New seminar series explores the nexus of art and activism Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/12/2022 - 10:05

Activism and Engaged Humanities Event Series will last throughout the year, with the first presentation on Sept. 21

From musical performances and poetry to speeches and printmaking, the Art, Activism, and Engaged Humanities series highlights how artistic achievements and performances synergize art and activism.

The series seeks to inspire and encourage participation both in and outside the University of Colorado Boulder community in the engaged humanities, a cross-disciplinary effort to make the humanities more accessible to the public.

“Too often in the humanities, we fail to make visible why and how our research and teaching matter to public life,” says Laurie Gries, an associate professor in writing and rhetoric and communication at CU Boulder and one of the series’ organizers.

Starting late September and lasting through spring, the series will host a range of performances, talks, workshops and community collaborations. These events will bring together students, faculty, staff and local Boulder community members to see, hear and experience various forms of art and allow them to join discussions about community involvement, activism and social issues.

Participants will discover how “to talk about pressing social matters and explore how art, in a broad sense, can work toward social justice in powerful publicly engaged ways,” says Gries.

Events included in the series are as follows:

A two day event on hip hop and social justice

The Politics of Race, Rap and Incarceration: A Conversation with Mark Katz and Mariah Parker aka Linqua Franqa

Date and Time: Sept. 21, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Location: Center for British and Irish Studies room, Norlin Library, M549

This event is being organized by the Center for Humanities & the Arts and American Music Research Center.

A Musical Performance with Linqua Franqa

Date and Time: Sept. 22, 7 p.m.

Location: The Dairy Arts Center, Gordan Gamm Theatre

This concert (followed by Q&A) is being organized by The American Music Research Center and The WRITE Lab/Program for Writing and Rhetoric. Tickets are free, but registration is required. Please click on this link and click on "Tickets" and fill out all necessary information.

A Workshop with Mariah Parker on Artmaking, Activism and Political Engagement

Date and Time: Sept. 22, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Location: UMC Room 247

For this event, organized by the WRITE Lab/Program for Writing and Rhetoric, Mariah Parker will speak about the process of becoming politically engaged through the art-making process.

Workshop max: 40 participants. Workshop registration required.

A panel and workshop on fighting for reproductive rights and justice

Virtual Panel of Community Organizers, Lawyers, Scholars, Activists

Date and Time: Oct. 27, 3:30 – 5 p.m.,

Location: Zoom (Registration Required)

Moderator: Samira Mehta (assistant professor, Jewish studies and women and gender studies)

Participating organizations, scholars and community members: Alexis Moncada (outreach coordinator of COLOR: Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights), Arianna Morales (policy manager of New Era Colorado), Dr. Warren Hern (Boulder Abortion Clinic), Jennifer Hendricks (professor of law) and Chenthu Jayton (executive director of Equity Labs).

Workshop with New Era Colorado on Reproductive Rights Advocacy and Organizing in Storytelling

Date and Time: Oct. 27, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Location: Hellems 241

Facilitators: Aaron Lombardi and Kate Kelly, New Era Colorado

This interactive workshop will dive into the history of organizing in Colorado and the role storytelling has played within the reproductive-rights movement. Participants will explore different mediums of storytelling for advocacy and discuss tools and/or resources to become an advocate in one’s community.

Workshop registration required. Workshop is limited to 30 participants. Organizers will email you to confirm registration and communicate any necessary instructions.

2022 Kwanzaa Celebration

Date and Time: Dec. 1, 2022, times TBD

Location: TBD

Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1 that celebrates the African diaspora, family and community contributions. To celebrate Kwanzaa and to demonstrate its potential for the engaged humanities, the Center for African and African American Studies is hosting a two-part event. Using the seven principles of the Ngozu Saba, a speakers event will feature presentations and performances from students and faculty in CU Boulder community related to research, entrepreneurship and activism. Directly following the event will be a karamu, or feast with traditional foods found in the Black community, which is an essential cultural practice of the holiday.

Printmaking as Activism

The CU Art Museum is hosting a two-day event in February, opening with a lecture by a printmaker or artist whose practice works toward social justice, followed by Q&A and discussion. On the second day of the event, the museum will lead a hands-on workshop on poster making and activism with opportunities for students to participate in art making. The invited artist will be selected from the museum’s current exhibition, Lasting Impressions. Potential artists are Delita Martin, Alison Saar, Rose B. Simpson, Dyani White Hawk and William Villalongo.

More than Words—A Digital Performance Installment

This virtual installment will explore the theme "More than words." Curated by Donna Mejia (associate professor, theatre and dance and Inaugural Chancellor's Scholar in Residence at the Renee Crown Wellness Institute), this program will feature visual and performing artists who use multiple formats of communication, incorporating or expanding beyond words in their activism and public works. This presentation will explore what is conveyed, transmitted and exchanged through art when words may not be enough, or can be augmented by nonverbal intelligence with the same precision as the written word.

Audience members will be invited to engage and open to duende (Spanish): the experience of being moved deeply or activated by the expressive arts.

Note: This event may be followed up by an experiential dance workshop.

Speaking Out against Gun Violence

Edna Lizbeth Chavez is a social justice activist, supporter of immigrant rights, and a survivor of gun violence. In 2018, she headlined and delivered a powerful speech at the March for our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. Chavez has lost many loved ones to gun violence and has become a leading gun control advocate and student voter registration organizer.

For this event, Chavez will give a talk, followed by a workshop for students on Using Voice for Social Justice.

This event is sponsored by the WRITE Lab/Program for Writing and Rhetoric, the English department and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Office for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

The event series is hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences' Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the WRITE Lab within the Program for Writing and Rhetoric, the Department of English, the Division of Student Affairs, the School of Music, the CU Art Museum, the Department of Ethnic Studies, the Center for Arts and Humanities and The Center for African and African American Studies.

Activism and Engaged Humanities Event Series will last throughout the year, with the first presentation on Sept. 21.

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Prof, grad student, staff member hailed for DEI work

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 18:23:24 +0000

Prof, grad student, staff member hailed for DEI work Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/02/2022 - 12:23

CU president’s office recognizes Donna Mejia, Paige Massey and Angel Sanchez for their work making the university a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place

Three members of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder are among those being recognized for their leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion across the university’s four-campus system.

The annual President’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards honor individuals and units demonstrating outstanding commitment and making significant contributions to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the University of Colorado community. This year, there are seven recipients of the award, with three being from arts and sciences.

Donna Mejia, associate professor of dance, and Paige Massey, PhD student in philosophy, have won 2021-22 CU President’s DEI Awards. Additionally, Angel Sanchez, first-year academic advising supervisor, was recognized with an honorable mention.

Mejia’s contributions in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion are far reaching and deeply impactful, the president’s office stated. Mejia’s nomination noted that her work spans “four primary domains: student-centered work; leadership that supports the recruitment, retention and development of faculty, staff and students from historically underrepresented groups; research that centers DEI; community outreach that inspires collaborative learning across race, culture, language, history and more.”

Donna Mejia

Mejia invites, supports and inspires individuals and groups through her warmth, approachability, honesty and humor while encouraging them to “fumble forward” as they navigate nuanced and sensitive topics in their DEI learning and practices, the president’s office stated.

She was also credited with successfully launching countless initiatives and programs, including a six-session series, Conversations 91��Ƭ�� Race; digital course Health, Society and Wellness in COVID-19 Times; Grounded Knowledge Panels and others.

Mejia’s contributions to DEI extend across the Boulder campus through her numerous official and unofficial roles, including as a faculty fellow and member of the Executive Committee of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute; the Inaugural Chancellor’s Scholar of Health and Wellness; affiliation with the Center for Teaching and Learning; a 2021-22 member of the Excellence in Leadership program; engagement with the Infrastructure and Sustainability team; and her partnerships and collaboration with 20 units at CU Boulder.

Massey joined CU Boulder as a philosophy PhD student in August 2019 and has devoted her time, talents and skills to advancing DEI. Her work centers on supporting students from historically minoritized groups and increasing access to higher education and the field of philosophy.

Paige Massey

She serves as the chapter president of CU Boulder’s Minorities and Philosophy. In this role, she founded and continues to coordinate a mentorship program that pairs undergraduate mentees with graduate students and faculty mentors.

It serves about 60 students, 80% of whom identify as belonging to groups that are underrepresented in philosophy. She designs and facilitates student success workshops to address the barriers and unique needs of students, demystify the graduate program application process, and build community.

Massey helped establish an interdisciplinary team of graduate students and faculty in philosophy, sociology and economics to host the “Giving Games,” educational activities designed to inspire students to learn more about nonprofits and their work, charitable giving and bias.

She promotes access to philosophy through her involvement in the department’s outreach program, assisting with the creation of two free public reading groups in partnership with local public libraries.

Sanchez, who earned a BA in English literature from CU Boulder in 2017 and minored in ethnic studies, characterizes education as a “journey of self-discovery and reflection” that helps people become the best they can be.

“My greatest goal in life is to ensure that anyone with a will and desire to learn and grow is provided that opportunity,” he says.

Angel Sanchez

Lily Board, the college’s assistant dean of academic advising and student success, said Sanchez has worked tirelessly to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Nearly every single significant DEI initiative that has moved forward within our unit over the past three years has been informed and influenced by Angel’s wisdom, insights, and unwavering commitment to inclusive excellence,” Board said in her letter of nomination.

She added that the extensive list of initiatives on which Sanchez has worked “simply cannot fully capture the depth of care, compassion, and resourcefulness that Angel brings daily—to every single interaction—with students and colleagues alike. To truly experience inclusive excellence is to know—and be with—Angel Sanchez.”

Awardees were honored at a reception in April.

At the top of the page: From left to right, Dance Associate Professor Donna Mejia, First-Year Academic Advising Supervisor Angel Sanchez and Philosophy PhD candidate Paige Massey.

CU president’s office recognizes Donna Mejia, Paige Massey and Angel Sanchez for their work making the university a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place.

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CU Boulder history professor named a 2022 Asian American Hero of Colorado

Anonymous — Mon, 16 May 2022 21:31:13 +0000

CU Boulder history professor named a 2022 Asian American Hero of Colorado Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/16/2022 - 15:31

Danny Long

William Wei will be honored on May 21 for his contributions to the Asian American community

When the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network (CACEN) named him one of this year’s Asian American Heroes of Colorado, CU Boulder history professor William Wei couldn’t believe it.

“It was totally unexpected,” he says.

Unexpected to him, maybe, but not to anyone else.

“Since so many Asian Americans feel so invisible, Dr. Wei has provided many platforms through his articles, research and even a book about Asian Americans in Colorado (Asians in Colorado: A History of Persecution and Perseverance in the Centennial State),” said Mary Schultz, CACEN’s communications manager and the person who nominated Wei. “Dr. Wei has uplifted Asian Americans so people in general don’t forget this community.”

Wei is no stranger to helping others. He’s been doing it for as long as he can remember, in part because of his late father, a sergeant in the U.S. Army.

“One of the things he used to tell me was (that) we should always do the right thing—the right thing by our family, friends and community—and do it for itself,” not “for any award,” Wei says.

Wei never expected an award, for example, when he was a boy in New York City and a family friend, his “aunt,” who didn’t speak much English, faced the terrifying possibility of losing her survivor’s benefits after her husband died.

If you want a society to become better, individuals and groups of individuals have to make that happen. You can’t expect it to come about naturally.”

Wei advocated for her at the Social Security office, convincing the employees there that, though her husband had passed, she was in fact alive and therefore needed support. “(I was) a little kid going over and speaking to these adults about the fact that my aunt was alive,” Wei recounts. “One day I had to physically take her there. ‘See! She’s alive!’”

Nor did Wei expect an award when, as an undergraduate at Marquette in May 1968, he participated in a sit-in for Black athletes. “We didn’t think they were treated fairly,” Wei recalls, “so I joined this group that decided to hold a student protest.”

Wei didn’t even expect an award while serving on the board of directors for Colorado Asian Pacific United, a group that was instrumental in getting the city of Denver to apologize for failing to protect the Chinese community during the anti-Chinese race riot of Oct. 31, 1880, which destroyed Denver’s Chinatown.

Throughout his life and career, Wei has sought to improve the lives of those around him—whether they be family, friends and/or community. One thing he’s learned from these experiences is that right may be right, but that does not make it inevitable.

A position which has only been reaffirmed by his experiences as a historian.

“I firmly believe that we are a product of the past,” he says. “If you want to know who you are today, you really need to go back and look at the past and at the forces that helped to shape the society in which we live.”

But the future, the history yet to be made, Wei says, is up for grabs, a prospect that should urge all of us to consider what kind of society we want to live in.

“If you want a society to become better, individuals and groups of individuals have to make that happen,” Wei argues. “You can’t expect it to come about naturally.” Progress, in other words, requires work.

And, unfortunately, Wei says, we have our work cut out for us. “We are living in precarious times,” he says, citing the war in Ukraine, threats to democracy within the United States, the “inexorable march of climate change” and the recent rise in anti-Asian and anti-Asian American hate crimes. We must take these issues seriously if we are to resolve them, Wei adds.

I firmly believe that we are a product of the past. If you want to know who you are today, you really need to go back and look at the past and at the forces that helped to shape the society in which we live.”

Yet Wei, who has been teaching history at CU Boulder since 1980 and served as the 2019-20 Colorado State Historian, has not abandoned all hope. His expertise won’t allow him to. “As a historian, I can look forward to change, because that’s the only constant. Being a historian, or having a sense of history, is reason to give you optimism.”

Wei studies modern Chinese history and Asian American history, subjects on which he has published numerous books and articles, many of them for non-academic audiences.

“I’m a great believer,” he says, “in making sure the scholarship we engage in at the university is accessible to the public.”

There was a time, Wei explains, when his research could have gone a different route. “I was interested in Africa, Asia and Latin America,” he says. “I actually thought about becoming a professor of African history, but circumstances channeled me into Asian history.” Looking back, he’s happy with the decision. “No regrets. It’s been a great life.”

But specialties aside, with a mind that moves deftly among many subjects, including law, literature and political science, Wei remembers people telling him he could have chosen to follow a smorgasbord of career paths. “You’re smart!” they would tell him. “You should be a lawyer”—or a public-school teacher, or a this, or a that.

Nothing would deter the scholar-to-be. “I want to be a (history) professor!” Wei would insist, which was a path re-affirmed by his own professors.

“The history professors I studied with were good, good people” who “made the study of history a fascinating subject” and could “instill (students) with a sense of the moral dimensions of history,” Wei says. “Quite frankly, I wanted to be just like them.”

They were, you might say, his heroes.

Well, now Wei is officially a hero too, and will be honored as such on May 21 at the Happy Living and Wellness Center in Aurora at 10 a.m.

Celebrating him, some would maintain, is the right thing to do.

Image at the top of the page: History professor William Wei is the 2022 Asian American Hero of Colorado.

William Wei will be honored on May 21 for his contributions to the Asian American community.

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Students, staff, others honored for diversity work

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 20:10:03 +0000

Students, staff, others honored for diversity work Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/14/2022 - 14:10

Recipients, chosen by faculty committee, ‘work tirelessly and most times in the dark’ for diversity and inclusion

Students, employees and a unit are being honored for their efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the University of Colorado Boulder College of Arts and Sciences.

The winners are the recipients of the second annual awards from ASCEND, or the Arts and Sciences Consortium of Committees on Climate, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.

The 2022 winners were selected and announced by the Diversity Committee of the Arts and Sciences Council, which is the primary representative body for the college’s faculty.

Celine Dauverd, associate professor of history and diversity-committee member, said the awards aim to acknowledge the “outstanding work of faculty, staff and students who work tirelessly and most times in the dark” in support of diversity and inclusion.

Emily Frazier-Rath

The 2022 faculty winner is Emily Frazier-Rath, a lecturer of German through the Anderson Language and Technology Center (ALTEC). She is an active member of the Coalition of Women in German, the German Studies Association, the forum for Diversity and Decolonization and the German Curriculum, the Modern Language Association, and the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages/American Association of Teachers of German.

Additionally, she is the executive director of the Black German Heritage and Research Association, a nonprofit dedicated to documenting and supporting the activities of Black Germans internationally and promoting scholarship relating to the historic and contemporary presence of Black people in Germany, Black Germans in the United States and beyond.

Claudia Numan

The 2022 staff winner is Claudia Numan, whose passion for volunteering is perhaps what best describes her, the committee states. Within a few months of joining CU Boulder as an academic advisor for physics and math students, she volunteered to join the physics department’s Equity, Inclusion and Cookies committee, where she has helped organize many workshops and events designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.

She has also volunteered her time as an integral member of the CU Boulder Rural Network, which operates with no budget, and where she “put to work her remarkable combination of expertise and approachability to support rural students who often come from very diverse backgrounds,” the committee states.

Irfanul (Irfan) Alam

The graduate-student winner is Irfanul (Irfan) Alam, a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, who has been instrumental across campus in enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion. Alam has had a particularly large effect in the transformation of curricula, the committee states.

Alam has mentored underrepresented undergraduates through the SMART and the Uplift research program. As the Graduate and Professional Student Government DEI chair, Alam re-designed the DEI award in collaboration with BIPOC students to acknowledge the social-justice efforts taken by students and professionals for their departments.

Alam represented graduate student voices at the IDEA council and was asked by the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance to serve as a stakeholder for the Campus Culture Survey. As the Center for Teaching and Learning’s graduate student lead, Alam served as a pedagogical resource for teaching assistants in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Also, as one of the designers of Center for Teaching and Learning’s Just and Equitable Teaching micro-credential program, Alam established a network of faculty and staff members who will mentor participants undertaking DEI capstone projects.

Jordan Lee

Jordan Lee is this year’s ASCEND undergraduate student winner. Ever since joining CU Boulder in 2019 to study linguistics and geography, she has devoted her boundless energy to the advancement of DEI.

Following the latest wave of violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, she co-founded a group called Unmask the Racism. The impressive work she has done for this student-led initiative includes organizing social media campaigns and workshops designed to raise awareness about the history and contributions of the AAPI community. She has also been a strong advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.

One of her projects was especially noted by the committee: the Queer Conversations and Cookies event series, which created an empowering space that, in Jordan’s words, “foster vulnerability, authenticity and inclusion.”

At the top of the page and above: Honors Residential Academic Program students in Smith Hall use artwork to demonstrate diversity, inclusivity and community.

The 2022 Departmental DEI Passion Project Winner is the Honors Residential Academic Program (HRAP), which launched a mural project titled "Deeper than Demographics.”

The mural is a visual representation of the HRAP’s goal to depict and integrate the themes of diversity, inclusivity and intersectionality into its community living and learning spaces.

The original concept, which provides the foundation of the mural, is to demonstrate social inclusivity as it is perceived and represented through student voices.

HRAP students participated in focus groups, art workshops and individual interviews to generate information that led to the mural. The mural contains images based on student voices and includes student haikus and framed student artwork, which is updated through an art competition each year.

The Arts and Sciences Council’s ASCEND and Departmental DEI Passion Project Awards are supported by James W.C. White, acting dean, and Patricia Gonzalez, assistant dean of inclusive practice. The diversity committee includes:

Cecilia J. Pang, theatre and dance, chair
Aun H. Ali, religious studies
Celine Dauverd, history
Kieran Marcellin Murphy, French and humanities
Stephanie Su, art and art history
Nicholas Villaneuva, ethnic studies

ASCEND Awards go to faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students who have demonstrated a commitment to the principles and actions of diversity and inclusion in curriculum, creative teaching practice, community building endeavors and/or communication.

Departmental DEI Passion Projects honor a department or unit that has completed a special project that promotes DEI and creates a lasting impact by applying one or more of the following values: creativity, originality, interdisciplinary, social impact and sustainability.

Recipients, chosen by faculty committee, ‘work tirelessly and most times in the dark’ for diversity and inclusion.

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Program for historically excluded students gets big boost, more space

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 22:53:37 +0000

Program for historically excluded students gets big boost, more space Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/06/2022 - 16:53

A sense of community is key to higher graduation rates and other measures of academic success, participants in MASP say

When it was launched in 1993, the Miramontes Arts & Sciences Program—or MASP—aimed to retain students of color in biology through graduation. Soon, the program expanded to help first-generation and other historically excluded students from all disciplines.

The program works so well and has grown so much that in early 2022 it is moving out of its cramped and hard-to-find facility in the Porter Biosciences building into newly remodeled, larger and more visible digs in the Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Building, which has long housed the School of Education.

At the top of the page: Blueprints of the new MASP space in the School of Education. Above: MASP provides traditionally underrepresented or first-generation students access to resources, enrichment opportunities and academic support and guidance.

Since 2016, MASP has doubled the number of students it serves and is projected to keep growing. The new space, which will span about 2,930 square feet, will be more noticeable to passers-by and will be 75% larger than the original space.

The space will occupy much of the Buchanan building’s first floor and will include a large community room, quiet study space, meeting rooms, faculty and staff offices, and a revamped computer and printing lab. The building will also house the Office of Undergraduate Education’s Student Academic Success Center—which also support first-generation and historically excluded students.

“As we continue charting forward and planning for MASP’s future, we are so excited for this new chapter and look forward to showing off the space at our grand opening celebration” next spring, a MASP newsletter recently noted.

The program’s success and its scheduled move are due in no small part to the help of donors.

Donors who are also CU Boulder alumni made a $1 million gift in September 2020. In supporting MASP, these donors are not alone. Since MASP’s inception, 254 individual donors have made 593 gifts totaling $2.6 million. Since September 2020 alone, donors have given a total of $1.3 million. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Advisory Board is also heavily invested in the program.

The enthusiastic support reflects the program’s striking success, observers say.

The six-year graduation rate for full-time first-year students entering CU Boulder in 2014 was 72%. The rate for students of color in the same cohort was 66%, and for first-generation students, the rate was 65%.

But students in MASP do better, in recent years showing six-year graduation rates of 75% to 85%.

Our students are so bright and talented; having a supportive academic community helps them to reach their potential.”

These results reflect MASP’s mission, which is to provide a supportive environment for students with an emphasis on matriculation, retention and postgraduate success.

The program focuses on two main goals: providing students with a “sense of belonging” through the support of an inclusive academic community on campus, and ensuring they are aware of and are able to take advantage of opportunities to enhance their education outside the classroom, such as internships, education abroad and undergraduate research opportunities.

Celeste Montoya, associate professor of women and gender studies and director of MASP, expressed gratitude for the support and the new space.

“Our students are so bright and talented; having a supportive academic community helps them to reach their potential,” Montoya said, adding:

“We’re so grateful for this investment in their future and the opportunity it provides us to reach even more students.”

A sense of community is key to higher graduation rates and other measures of academic success, participants in MASP say.

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Closing gaps in diversity, equity can lead to success

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 22:40:52 +0000

Closing gaps in diversity, equity can lead to success Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/04/2022 - 16:40

Kenna Bruner

New assistant dean for inclusive practice wants to help students feel included and seen across multiple spaces

As the first person from her family to graduate from college, Patricia Gonzalez, assistant dean for inclusive practice in the College of Arts and Sciences, understands the need to increase diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder.

She is committed to building a community in which students, faculty and staff celebrate cultures and identities through multi-layered efforts to increase retention and instill a sense of belonging among all students.

“This inclusive practice work is personal to me,” Gonzalez said. “The position I’ve been given enables me to create change, to amplify voices of people we have not centered or have failed to center. It allows me to go back to a grassroots approach of meeting people where they are, to understand their needs, to ensure we’re not just coming up with Band-Aid solutions but truly getting down to what matters and understanding how to close those existing gaps to help us all be successful at this institution.”

Gonzalez’s work is about centering students, along with faculty and staff, at the heart of CU Boulder’s engagement initiatives. Her work recognizes that students are not just in arts and sciences, but also in dining halls, campus life, involvement in other majors, minors and departments, and active in CU organizations, so to make them feel included and seen in multiple spaces.

She is developing is a mentorship program for faculty and staff who are Black, Indigenous and/or people of color. The program is a support system that helps new hires and current employees feel a sense of empowerment.

The position I’ve been given enables me to create change, to amplify voices of people we have not centered or have failed to center.”

Workshops are being held for faculty and staff on topics related to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) such as inclusive language, understanding macro- and micro-aggressions, addressing anti-racism and anti-Blackness. Gonzalez’s goal is to help people reflect on individual behaviors that contribute to non-inclusive environments.

“In order for us to stand out as an institution, we have to build equitable systems that will help people be successful,” she said.

One of 11 children, Gonzalez grew up in an immigrant home in South Los Angeles. She saw her undocumented parents struggle to get by, afraid that one day they would be taken from her. Yet the strength and love her mother showed for her family continues to inspire Gonzalez.

“I want my parents to know they are loved and that I will continue to advocate for people in the same way they taught me. I will also create equitable systems where people can be successful,” Gonzalez said. “My parents inspire me and are my strength, my rock and my biggest reason why I do the work I do.”

A Doctor of Education in organization, change and leadership from the University of Southern California is just one of Gonzalez’s notable academic achievements. She also holds a master’s in higher and postsecondary education and administration from Teachers College at Columbia University and has a bachelor’s in government and philosophy from Franklin and Marshall College.

She continues to learn both inside and outside her field. Currently she is reading The Wake Up:Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change and the 1619 Project.

“In my previous professional roles, I always felt like I had to continually prove myself,” Gonzalez said. “At CU I know I have proven myself and have the skills to be successful. My research in diversity and inclusion doesn’t mean that I know everything. One doesn’t ever stop learning. I am still learning and growing in my own JEDI journey. And I am committed to making CU stand out as an institution that drives forth JEDI efforts.”

Photo at the top of the page: Patricia Gonzalez, seen here with her parents, Maria and Jose Gonzalez, after she earned a doctorate degree in organization, change and leadership from the University of Southern California.

New assistant dean for inclusive practice wants to help students feel included and seen across multiple spaces.

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CU’s symbol is male, but the first version highlighted a female

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 15:52:28 +0000

CU’s symbol is male, but the first version highlighted a female Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/29/2022 - 09:52

Women’s history snapshot: From 1893 to 1908, the University Seal featured an image of a Greek female and the ‘Let Your Light Shine’ motto

Those who know the University of Colorado generally recognize the official University Seal: It adorns diplomas, transcripts and other official documents.

The seal depicts a male Greek classical figure sitting near a pillar, holding a scroll. His scroll points toward laurel branches framing a burning torch. In between are the words “Let Your Light Shine.”

At the top of the page: The current seal of CU Boulder, adopted in 1908, depicts a male Greek classical figure sitting in front of a pillar and holding a scroll. Next to the figure, laurel branches frame a burning torch. The inscription in Greek reads “Let Your Light Shine.” Above: The central figure on the first university seal was a Greek woman.

This is the university’s second adopted seal. The first also depicted a Greek figure kneeling before a lamp, bearing the same message. A key difference is that central figure on the first university seal was not a man, but a woman.

Introducing the first University Seal in 1893, then President James Baker told that year’s graduates that the emblem bore a Greek motto, “chosen from the volume of Christian teachings, translated to mean ‘Let Your Light Shine.’”

The emblem itself was a reproduction of a medallion created by William Wyon, a British engraver. As Baker told the graduates, the outer rim of the seal was an etching of the mariposa lily, “plucked in the fullness of bloom from the base of our own beautiful foothills—a true Colorado flower.”

Baker concluded, “One who chooses to decipher these emblems may read—Truth, Art, Science.”

Before 1893, the university used a slightly altered version of the official seal of the State of Colorado, but the CU Board of Regents never officially adopted that seal, or—President Baker’s statements notwithstanding—the one featuring the female Greek figure.

As William Davis reports in Glory Colorado, the regents officially chose the current seal in 1908, picking a design by a Henry Read of Denver. Read said he stuck with the classical theme because “the Greek civilization stood as the criterion of culture.”

The central idea of the seal was light. The laurel suggested honor or success, and the scroll signified written language. “The ‘morning’ of life was indicated by the figure of a young man,” Davis writes.

Today, CU uses two versions of the University Seal. The “official seal,” which features the motto in Greek letters, is used on diplomas, official transcripts, and officially certified regent actions. It is also featured on the president’s chain of office, the university mace, commencement programs, regent regalia and print and electronic publications of the Board of Regents.

The “commercial seal” is identical except that the motto is in English. That seal may be used on official CU stationary, envelopes, websites, signs, vehicles or clothing. It can also be used on business cards of CU employees.

Sources: Sources: Glory Colorado, A History of the University of Colorado, 1858-1963; CU system brand and identity guidelines.

Women’s history snapshot: From 1893 to 1908, the University Seal featured an image of a Greek female and the ‘Let Your Light Shine’ motto.

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First woman elected a CU regent was a prohibitionist

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 22:34:17 +0000

First woman elected a CU regent was a prohibitionist Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/21/2022 - 16:34

Women’s history snapshot: Anna Louise Wolcott Vaile argued that social ills harming women could only be rectified with political power, which relied on women’s suffrage

Colorado recognized women’s right to vote in 1893, but state voters did not elect a woman to the University of Colorado’s governing board until 1910. That pioneer was Anna Louise Wolcott Vaile.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, she was one of 11 children and earned her education in Wellesley College, a private women's liberal art college in Massachusetts.

Vaile dedicated much of her life to education. She was principal of Wolfe Hall, a women’s seminary school, in Denver from 1892 to 1898. She was also founder and principal of the Wolcott School for Girls, where she served from 1898 to 1913.

At the top of the page: The American Issue, a newspaper owned by the National Anti-Saloon League, reporting that the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution had been ratified, making the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquor illegal. Above: Anna Louise Wolcott Vaile became the first female regent for the University of Colorado.

Vaile campaigned for women’s suffrage and remained politically active after suffrage was achieved. Like many crusaders for suffrage, she favored prohibition. The motivation was clear. Alcoholism was rampant through the 19th and early 20th centuries. At its zenith, in 1830, American consumption was the equivalent of 90 bottles of vodka a year, National Geographic reports.

Women suffered as a result, historians note. Men routinely spent money on alcohol rather than food for their families, and rates of domestic violence soared.

Women knew they needed food for their families and safety in their homes, but they could accomplish only so much social change as long as they were barred from voting; Vaile and others made this point explicitly. But even after women gained the vote, Colorado would not ban the sale of alcohol until 1916, four years before the United States followed suit.

Prohibition begat unintended consequences. A vibrant black market run by criminal syndicates sprang up, increasing violence and tax evasion. Prohibition also led to an unanticipated new development: women choosing to become bootleggers and then getting prosecuted for the crime.

As historians have observed, saloons in the pre-Prohibition era were closed to women, unless those women were entertainers and prostitutes. But once producing and selling alcohol became a crime, there was no social convention to keep women from seizing a new way to earn a living. Bootlegging was not only a criminal enterprise but an equal-opportunity one.

As the Longmont Ledger, a then-newspaper, reported in 1923, Vaile remained committed to using political power to vanquish alcohol abuse.

“Needless to say, one of the matters closest to my heart is the prohibition question,” the newspaper recorded Vaile as saying. “Although it is my earnest belief that the solution to this problem lies in the home, it is an undisputed fact that the only effective method in which the drink evil can be ended is by having a living, powerful, active organization to combat it.”

“No matter how high the ideals of the American woman, she is powerless to act effectively without the cooperation of a political organization able to foster the legislation she favors. It is my belief that the women of the state can best bring about the complete end of the drink evil by working through the Republican Party, which first put Colorado in the prohibition problem.”

“It is my hope that Republican women of the state will be ready to present their views, of this and other questions, through me to the national committee, and I am already receiving suggestions which I hope to present at the next meeting of the national body.”

It was another decade before the nation adopted the 21st Amendment, in 1933, repealing Prohibition.

Vaile did not live to see Prohibition repealed. She died in 1928 and is buried in the Fairmont Cemetery in Denver.

Sources: Glory Colorado, A History of the University of Colorado, 1858-1963; National Geographic; Colorado Encyclopedia; History of Colorado, edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone.

Women’s history snapshot: Anna Louise Wolcott Vaile argued that social ills harming women could only be rectified with political power, which relied on women’s suffrage.

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