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Message from Mercedes

Headshot of Mercedes Ramirez FernandezThis week, we mark the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. To celebrate the milestone, a committee known as the 2020 Collaborative, chaired by Cate Cerulli, professor of psychiatry and director of the Susan B. Anthony Center, and Adrienne Morgan, associate vice president for equity and inclusion and senior associate dean for equity and inclusion at the School of Medicine, put together a collection of notable women connected to Rochester. With expert help from University Communications, a beautiful new Celebration 2020 website highlights the accomplishments of these women and showcases their achievements.

The list of women is expertly curated and critically diverse, but it is not intended to be exhaustive or complete. Perhaps more importantly, the 2020 Collaborative also recognizes that not all women were able to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Black, Brown, and indigenous women continued to face challenges for decades after the amendment was passed.

That inequity is still with us today, and it continues to shape so much of our work toward equity, diversity, and inclusion. In recent months, the Office of Equity and Inclusion has worked closely with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to address systemic racism at our University. In the time since the country and the world stood up to declare Black Lives Matter, we have established the Committee on Community Engagement for Racial Justice, consulted with the chairs of the Eastman Action Commission for Racial Justice, engaged with students and faculty on a critical review of the University’s Public Safety Review Board, and advocated to bring important changes to the institution’s harassment and discrimination policy.

OEI has also worked with President Mangelsdorf and senior leadership to implement equity, diversity, and inclusion action plans for each school and unit. The action plans will help us gather essential data University wide and will provide a necessary tool for an aggressive and accountable strategy for greater equity and actualized access.

We do this work to make the University of Rochester a more inclusive, safe, and welcoming place. I am reminded of that this week as we welcome students back to campus and help them prepare for a successful, and perhaps uncertain, academic year. I am confident that we will rise to meet the challenges that face us, because we will meet them as a strong and mindful University community dedicated to social justice and meaningful change.

Welcome back, students. I wish you the very best for the upcoming semester.

Meliora, 
Mercedes Ramírez Fernández
Richard Feldman Vice President for Equity and Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer

Rochester Celebrates 100 Years

Illustration of Ruby Belton
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the University announced the formation of the 19th Amendment Collaborative, a committee focused on marking the milestone by celebrating the impact of Rochester women. Running from January 2020 through Meliora Weekend 2021, the celebration represents a cohesive and inclusive approach and has as its centerpiece a website to celebrate women with connections to the University and the broader Rochester Community. 

McCune Named FDI Director

Photo of Jeffrey McCuneJeffrey McCune Jr., an associate professor of women, gender, sexuality studies and of African and African American studies at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named director of the Frederick Douglass Institute in the School of Arts and Sciences. In that role, he will bring together faculty, students, and staff from across academic disciplines to collaborate in the study of the African diaspora and offer essential programming that explores and promotes African and African American studies at the University. McCune has personal and academic connections to the institute and the University. In 2006–07, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the institute and a faculty associate at the University’s Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies. McCune joins the University on June 1, 2021. (Photo: Porsché Cain)

Virtual Events to Highlight Douglass, Social Justice

Lessons of the Hour—Frederick Douglass: Conversation + Special Viewing
On Thursday, August 20, join Jonathan Binstock, the Memorial Art Gallery’s Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director, for a live pre-screening conversation about Lessons of the Hour—Frederick Douglass. Then, enjoy a special virtual viewing of this MAG-commissioned work of media art by artist Isaac Julien. Lessons of the Hour is a meditation on the life, words, and actions of Frederick Douglass, the visionary African American abolitionist and freed slave. This event is presented as part of the Experience Rochester series, bringing the very best of Rochester directly to you with topics and speakers unique to the University. You can register for the event here.
From Moments to Movements to Revolutionary Thinking and Action: Our Long Struggle to Dismantle Racism in Society and Life
On Wednesday, August 26, join Dr. Christopher Span, a historian and researcher of 19th and 20th century African American history, as he discusses the pivotal events throughout the past that have sparked the momentum we are experiencing today, and how we can all listen, learn, and come together to normalize anti-racism and dismantle the systemic racism that plagues us personally, professionally, and as a nation. You can register for the event here.

Valencia Heads to Harvard for Post-doc

Photo of Antonio Tinoco ValenciaAfter successfully defending his dissertation in June, Antonio Tinoco Valencia, ’20 (PhD) recently began his post-doc in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. Valencia is founding president of the Rochester chapter of the Alliance for Diversity in Science and Engineering (ADSE). Born in Mexico, Valencia grew up in Los Angeles protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). His academic expertise focuses on organic synthesis, biocatalysis, asymmetric catalysis, bioinorganic chemistry, mechanistic enzymology, protein engineering, and directed evolution. For what drives him personally, Valencia says, "I am passionate about and work towards increasing the equity and visibility of underrepresented minorities in STEM through my efforts in leading diversity and inclusion initiatives in higher education."
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