As many of you know, I began my work in Rochester with an extensive listening and learning tour. I conducted hundreds of interviews with faculty, staff, and students, and spoke with many of you personally to get your thoughts on the current status of the University of Rochester’s efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion has never been more important than it is right now as our country and the world respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our region and our institution are no exceptions. But along with our university’s academic reputation, one of the things that attracted me to Rochester was the opportunity to work with President Mangelsdorf and to partner with her on a steadfast commitment to be ever better and live the values of Meliora.
In this moment, we are at the intersection of mandates from our senior leadership to reduce expenses and the immediate need of the Office of Equity and Inclusion to structure and guide our most important work. To meet those demands, we have undertaken a strategic reorganization that includes staff reductions and consolidations that will allow us to focus more centralized resources on critical initiatives such as data collection and analysis and provide the capacity for more shared services with other offices around the University. These actions will also allow us to create a faculty fellows program that will leverage the considerable expertise and scholarship at Rochester.
In these challenging times, OEI’s important work continues. In the coming weeks, we will announce new strategies and initiatives that will help us focus our efforts on key priorities, including compliance efforts, academic and scholarship initiatives, community engagement activities, and much more. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to the Encompass newsletter for all the most recent news and updates from our office.
I look forward to continuing our work together on issues that impact diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University and in the greater Rochester area.
Be well,
Mercedes Ramírez Fernández
Richard Feldman Vice President for Equity and Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer
New Efforts to Address Health Disparities
The Office of Equity and Inclusion recently met with Kara Finnigan, Warner School professor of educational leadership, to partner on the formation of a new committee to address health disparities and social inequities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the University-wide Community Engagement Steering Committee, the COVID-19 Community Engagement Committee (CCEC) will be designed to work in collaboration with community members to identify critical needs and determine ways that the university can share expertise, human capital, and other resources. The group will be dedicated to hearing from community voices about the most urgent needs, and thinking collaboratively about solutions that help mitigate the impact the virus has on communities struggling with structural racism and poverty.
Celebrating the Class of 2020
The Office of Equity and Inclusion celebrates Rainbow Graduation, the OMSA Seniors, and the entire Class of 2020. We're not together in person but we're with you in spirit. Meliora!
As many of you know, I began my work in Rochester with an extensive listening and learning tour. I conducted hundreds of interviews with faculty, staff, and students, and spoke with many of you personally to get your thoughts on the current status of the University of Rochester’s efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.
