DEI Committee

The DEI committee for the 2024-2025 academic year is as follows: Elizabeth Mason (I-LEAP), Pasquale Bottalico (SHS), Ian Rice (HK), Yannick Kluch (RST), Lori Davis (RST), Garrett Anderson (Chez), Stephanie Wheeler (DRES), Latashia Key (Graduate student representative—RST), Natalia Mihigo (Undergraduate student rep—I-Health) and Fatima Husain (Associate Dean, DEI). We meet monthly throughout the academic year. We are advised by students of the BIPOC advisory board, who this year are tackling the idea of inclusive peer-mentoring and the feasibility of implementing it. They are: Maria Angel (SHS—graduate student), Jasmyne Ruffin (SHS—undergrad), Justice Baah (HK—grad), Natalia Mihigo (HK—undergrad), Latashia Key (RST—grad) and Derrick Washington (undergrad—RST).

DEI Awards

Please nominate yourself or an outstanding student, faculty, staff or academic professional for the DEI awards. This year we inaugurate the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Faculty/Staff Award. This award is intended to recognize extraordinary contributions, leadership and commitment to the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion on our campus and/or the communities it serves. This includes exceptional and impactful initiatives that reflect the principles of AHS. This will also be the second year for the Inclusive Leadership, Diversity, Service and Excellence in Outreach Student Award.
The deadline for the awards is Dec. 9, 2024.

Helping with Placements

In August, SHS Assistant Professor Mary Flaherty and Fatima Husain collaborated with Ross Wantland and Gio Guerra-Perez from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion to host a workshop for SHS instructors. The workshop focused on challenges faced by clinical graduate students during their placements, particularly in rural community clinics and schools in central Illinois. These environments can be quite different for students from larger cities or other countries, often creating cultural and practical challenges. Follow-up meetings are planned to develop actionable solutions for the challenges identified. The goal is to ensure students receive both academic preparation and personal support, helping them adapt and thrive in these new settings while enhancing the quality of care provided in the community.

Focus Groups on Shared Ancestry Discrimination

We celebrate Nov. 11 as Veterans Day. Each year, the Chez Veterans Center holds celebrations to honor those who served. Fatima Husain recently visited the CVC for the first time in a few years, and was impressed with the energy and activity around the center. Dr. Husain also met with Director of Operations Andy Bender and his team. The Urbana campus teaches more Veterans, reserve guard, active duty personnel and dependents now than ever, with a total of 821 as of fall 2024. We want to take some space here to highlight one such student: Emily Redeker, Air Force Veteran and Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology. 

Read more about her here.

First-Gen Student Day

Nov. 8 was National First-Generation Student Day, and the College of Applied Health Sciences held an open house to acknowledge those students who are charting a new course within their families. Approximately 31 percent of AHS undergraduate students identify as first-generation (meaning neither of their parents have completed a bachelor’s degree), including Kinesiology freshman Rihanna Shegog, pictured. Visit our Instagram page for more photos of first-gen students. 

Calls for Proposals

Another solicitation of grant proposals of the Chancellor’s Call to Action initiative to address racism and social injustice was announced recently and closed on Nov. 1. You can find more details here. For information on the 2025-26 proposals, visit this site.

Climate Survey

The campus will start dissemination of the overall climate survey report in early December 2024. We expect to begin dissemination of the College of AHS report in late spring or early fall 2025. As a one-stop-shop, always review content at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion website.