April always feels like a beautiful time of hope to me. Here along the northern border of our country, April can bring us days of gentle sunshine or days of cold rain. But even if we have snow in April—which we’ve had!—the longer days let us know that the warmth of summer is on its way. I experience the same hope about our work in equity and inclusion. Despite challenges, I feel a sense of expansion and possibility.
April is also an opportunity for us to recognize Arab-American Heritage, Sexual Assault Awareness, and Deaf History months. We honor our Muslim sisters and brothers who are fasting during the days of Ramadan. Their spiritual discipline, which reminds us to always consider the hunger of others, is an inspiration. This year all three Abrahamic faiths celebrated a major rite of renewal at the same time, as Passover, Ramadan, and Easter converged last weekend, a beautiful image of interconnection even as we honor our differences.
For Sexual Assault Awareness month, IOEI hosted many events, including a flag display outside Taylor Hall on April 1st, the National Day of Action on April 5th, a Title IX table at both the UHS Graduate Student Wellness Fair on April 8th, and the UHS LGBTQ+ Resource Fair on April 11th. We hosted an expression wall and a banner display in Wilson Commons throughout the month, as well as the Clothesline Project display. As part of our SAAM activities we encourage our community to wear denim on Wednesday, April 27th for National Denim Day. All these events are designed to bring sexual assault out of the shadows, so we can prevent, treat, and heal from this form of violence.
Nationwide, we watched CODA, a film about children of Deaf adults, win Best Picture at the Oscars, along with Troy Kotsur becoming the second-ever Deaf person to receive an acting Oscar. Here in Rochester we have a vibrant Deaf community, one of the largest in the country, and we are celebrating Deaf History month with a little history making of our own. Dr. Wyatte Hall, IOEI Faculty Fellow, has become the first tenure-track Deaf faculty member at URMC in the Public Health Sciences Department. Dr. Hall will be joined on the faculty by Dr. Aileen Aldalur, who will become faculty in the Psychiatry Department in July.
We felt the possibilities of inclusion and transformation when over 500 individuals registered for Lift Off, the inaugural EDI Leadership Summit on April 7th. The summit was an opportunity for us to hear from inspirational speakers such as Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Dr. Jennifer Freyd, Dr. Shaun Nelms, and Dr. Tom Humphries on ways we can work to achieve our vision of transforming EDI work from an isolated initiative to a core value acting as a catalyst for institutional excellence – Meliora, as we say at the University of Rochester.
We also felt that sense of hope when sixteen faculty members and staff from UR attended the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy conference this month. The conference, now in its 10th year, was designed to address the many challenges that women of color in academia face by providing connection and mutual support. It was an empowering and soul supportive event for women of color—Black, Asian, Latinx, and Indigenous—on the front lines of breaking barriers. The “Sister Scholars," a term borrowed from our Virginia Tech colleague Chatrice Barnes, left feeling recharged from programs on career development, leadership, personal well-being (so necessary!), and scholar activism, and inspired by keynote talks by Dr. Roxanne Gay, Norma Cantú, and Nikole Hannah-Jones.
All these positive events affirm my sense of hope, just as new life emerges in spring.
En solidaridad, Mercedes Ramírez Fernández
Richard Feldman Vice President for Equity and Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer
Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Training Forum
The University of Rochester has partnered with Monroe County and the City of Rochester to provide a two-day forum on the MWBE Certification process. This inaugural annual event will help participants navigate Monroe County’s new MWBE program, discover what local government agencies purchase, and network with agencies and buyers. The forum begins Tuesday, April 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with a networking reception from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., and continues Wednesday, April 27th with a “Meet the Buyers” Matchmaking Event from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Register here.
April always feels like a beautiful time of hope to me. Here along the northern border of our country, April can bring us days of gentle sunshine or days of cold rain. But even if we have snow in April—which we’ve had!—the longer days let us know that the warmth of summer is on its way. I experience the same hope about our work in equity and inclusion. Despite challenges, I feel a sense of expansion and possibility.
