Goal 1: Campus Climate

Despite the pandemic, units across campus implemented programs, policies and practices to increase awareness, promote social and racial justice and engage activism. Among the many efforts, the School of Dentistry organized a new series of schoolwide discussions, the first examining the impact of racism and racial injustice on individuals, communities and society. Presented on June 25, “A Listening Session on Race, Anti-Racism and Racial Healing” drew more than 130 online participants. Additional sessions focused on “Impactful Allyship” and “Charting the Path Forward.” In Michigan Athletics, Wolverines Against Racism (WAR)—a student-sponsored organization launched in summer 2020—led the push for inclusion of the equality patch and calls to action on team uniforms and equipment. WAR also co-sponsored Athletics’ Juneteenth and MLK celebrations. At the Law School, the dean formed an independent Advisory Board on Race and Racism with the goal of helping Michigan realize the promise of a diverse, equitable and inclusive legal education experience. The Advisory Board is charged with 1) examining any issues of racism and disparity in the Law School community based on race and ethnicity and 2) issuing actionable, transformative recommendations for eradicating any systemic, institutional racism and discrimination and providing guidance for engaging issues of race in constructive ways. In 2020, the School of Social Work created an Anti-Racism Fund in response to concerns among student groups. The resulting anti-racism grants are available to support individual and group activities and projects for anti-racism work, with a focus on confronting and combating anti-Blackness, racism against Indigenous peoples and White supremacy.

After hosting a successful Juneteenth event last year as part of the Rackham Staff Forum, Rackham’s Strategic Action Lead Team (SALT) began planning a 2021 celebration of Juneteenth. This effort quickly grew to include partners across campus, including the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS), the Association of Black Social Work Students (ABSWS) and the Center for Social Solutions, in consultation with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Center for the Education of Women’s (CEW+) Women of Color Task Force (WCTF). The event became a community-university partnership as well when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Ann Arbor Branch joined the effort. During a week-long series of events, the inaugural Juneteenth Symposium offered both online and in-person activities. To date, online content has been viewed by over 2,000 individuals; racial justice-themed workshops were attended by more than 80 participants; and the NAACP-sponsored march to Ann Arbor’s Wheeler Park drew over 250 participants.

Thanks to the support of our campus community and using remote delivery options, the Office of Enrollment Management (OEM) made great strides in implementing innovative DEI programming for all OEM staff this past year. Leveraging the talents of existing campus partners and resources, the OEM DEI Committee offered expanded DEI programming options, including 15 virtual programming opportunities in which OEM team members could participate. These included events covering social identity and ethnicity, a virtual discussion group focused on the “Nice White Parents” podcast from the New York Times and a fireside chat with Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack discussing efforts to recruit and enroll low-income students within the state of Michigan. One highlight that illuminated OEM’s campus partnerships was the virtual Vets Week programs such as the Michigan Medicine Veteran Panel, which was hosted with our partners in Michigan Medicine and explored careers in health care for veterans.  Resources including videos, guided readings and events from campus were shared to supplement OEM programming.