Page 5 - UMN Chemnews December 2020

Department continues its work on diversity, equity, and inclusion
The Department of Chemistry is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), making it a priority and establishing and supporting an active Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee— one of the first established on the University of Minnesota campus.
Strategic plan consultant
Recently, the department hired Stacie LeSure, Ph.D., to help it develop, implement, and assess a DEI strategic plan. She is a consultant based out of Washington, D.C., and founder of Engineers for Equity. She will be working closely with
the Diversity & Inclusion Committee to gath- er information, consider areas for improve- ment, and make formal recommendations for a multi-year strategic plan.
LeSure earned a doctorate in engineering education at Utah State University. Her research applied critical race theory and inter- sectionality frameworks to examine effective intervention strategies to reduce the negative consequences of stereotype threat, which is the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about an individual’s racial, ethnicity, gender, or cultural group. In addition, she has a Master of Science in materials science and engineer- ing from Georgia Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science in physics from Spelman College, and obtained the status of All But Defense in materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University.
Work of the D&I Committee
Now in its 7th year, the Diversity & Inclusion
Committee continues its multi-faceted mis- sion to leverage the transformative power of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice to advance excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement in the Department of Chemistry. This committee seeks to educate department members, dismantle racist and other discriminatory practices, and promote an environment where all have the opportuni- ty to thrive. The committee is led by Professor Erin Carlson.
Recently, the committee added sections to the department’s Diversity & Inclusion website focused on anti-racism and allyship educa- tional resources and allyship fund-raising resources. The D&I Committee and depart- ment leadership organized listening spaces following the murder of George Floyd to provide a forum for discussion and support. It eliminated Graduate Record Examinations as a graduate admission requirement. Among its recommendations was to increase repre- sentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) chemists in the department’s seminar series. It helped to establish the Jeannette Brown Lecture in Chemistry (see story on Page 16).
With 29 members, the D&I Committee, which is composed of faculty, students, post- doctoral associates and staff, has doubled its membership since last year. It has created six working groups focused on communications, community building, faculty hiring, graduate training, inclusive classroom, and student recruitment. All of the working groups are creating vision statements to guide their work.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have so many peo- ple dedicating their time and effort to this im- portant work,” said Carlson. “It is not possible for any one person or even a small group of people to make real change: we need everyone to contribute both from within our committee but also from the entire department.”
It falls to the Communications Working Group, led by undergraduate student Tiffany Cardoza and Professor Angela Perkins, to
tell the stories about what the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and its working groups
are doing as well as inviting others in the department to participate. They will maintain the diversity and inclu- sion website, found on the department’s intranets, with information, data and resources,
initiate social media presences such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and develop content for the department’s Weekly ENews and ChemNews newsletters.
Through its communications, this working group hopes to make information more transparent and accessible, provide a voice for underrepresented groups and students, in- crease allyship, and provide a platform where people in the department can connect with each other.
Connections are important to the students serving on this working group.
“I entered this community to find out if this is the right choice for me,” said Jane Michaelson, an undergraduate student. “Is this the life path that I want to be on? Am I seeing other people like me? How can we bring a welcoming and safe presence to others?”
Connections will also enable first-generation college students to navigate what they need to succeed, said Tiffany. “A lot of us don’t have mentors or other people that we can ask for help. We need to level that playing field with resources to help guide us on how to succeed and be successful,” she said.
The Student Recruiting and Inclusion Classrooms Working Groups have recently initiated some exciting new activities.
The Student Recruiting Working Group, led by undergraduate Jane Michaelson and Professor Carlson, is looking at ways to increase the pool of diverse appli- cants interested in joining the Department of
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Professor Erin Carlson, D&I Committee Chair
Stacie LeSure, Ph.D., strategic plan consultant
cse.umn.edu/chem 5