UDiversity Educational Institute, summer 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous UDiversity workshops were postponed and/or canceled. The work of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) required staff to respond to immediate concerns regarding new guidelines around hiring in addition to responding to bias complaints as our Asian/Asian American student community was concerned about bias reaction around COVID-19. DEI restructured its work plan from campus offices to remote work plans. Many campus events across our centers, professional development, travel and programming were canceled. This has been an unprecedented time. During this quarter, the UDiversity Educational Institute worked to enhance current workshops and create new plans to move our workshops online in an effort to continue these trainings in the fall semester. One workshop was provided for faculty and staff with a total of 10 participants while the institute consulted with a variety of academic departments across the institution to support their diversity plans moving forward. DEI was tasked with creating and presenting a workshop to build cultural awareness and support regarding the current pandemic. The workshop, titled “Reimagining Inclusion during COVID-19,” was presented remotely with participants representing various departments including chemistry, EAP, International Education and Global Initiatives, REACH and the Center for Civic Engagement.