Commission on Diversity & Inclusion update

Since beginning work in November 2015, Washington University in St. Louis’ Commission on Diversity & Inclusion has launched six working groups focused on the following areas:

• Diversity Training
• University-Wide Diversity and Inclusion Events
• Race, Identity, Social Justice Institute
• Eliminating Technology Barriers
• Diversifying Staff
• Awards & Recognition.

As part of their efforts, the Diversity Training and Diversifying Staff groups will host coffee hours to give faculty and staff the opportunity to learn about the groups’ work and engage in the process.

The first coffee hour, held by the Diversity Training working group, took place at 1 p.m. Monday, June 27, in the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), located in Suite 202 of Olin Library.

“Coffee hours offer an opportunity for our campus community to join the commission in developing a vision and strategies for furthering Washington University as a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive community,” said Adrienne Davis, commission chair, vice provost and the William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law.

“The commission has been working hard to generate fresh and innovative ideas, and we look forward to sharing some of these with our colleagues,” she said. “These are tough, challenging issues and we need as many minds and voices engaging in this work as possible.”

Additional coffee hours are scheduled for this summer in the CDI. All take place from 1-2 p.m. unless otherwise noted, with the dates and working groups as follows:

• July 11: Diversifying Staff
• July 14: Eliminating Barriers to Technology (2-3 p.m.)
• July 27: Eliminating Barriers to Technology (12:30-1:30 p.m.)
• August 1: Diversity Training
• August 8: Diversifying Staff

The commission also will be scheduling coffee hours on the School of Medicine campus.

For more information, contact diversity@wustl.edu.