Editor’s note: This is part of a series of updates on campuswide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that will continue throughout the year.
In this month's issue, read more about the campus’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day convocation, upcoming deadlines for submitting DEI Impact Grant applications and how to join an employee affinity group.
Save the date: MLK Day Convocation 2024
Students, staff, faculty and Boulder community members are invited to mark their calendars for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation 2024.
This signature campus event will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 22 in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the University Memorial Center, providing the campus and Boulder communities with opportunities to remember the legacy of the celebrated and influential civil rights leader. The convocation is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Center for African and African American Studies (the CAAAS) are sponsoring the convocation.
An announcement about the keynote speaker and other featured guests will become available over the next few weeks. The event’s themes will center on actualizing King’s vision of a “beloved community” in the current social climate, constructing an accurate historical understanding of King and the civil rights movement, placing his work in a contemporary context and articulating healing from intergenerational trauma.
The convocation is taking place a week after Colorado’s official public holiday honoring King on Jan. 15, when the campus will close for classes and most administrative business in alignment with closures by other public schools, universities and government offices.
Deadlines approaching for DEI Impact Grant funding
The deadlines to submit proposals for summer 2024 and the 2024–25 academic year DEI Impact Grants are fast approaching, and faculty and staff interested in submitting proposals for the seed grant funding are encouraged to do so in January and February.
Proposals for summer 2024 funding should be submitted by Jan. 16 and proposals for 2024–25 academic year funding should be submitted by Feb. 13.
Faculty and staff interested in learning more about the DEI Impact Grants and how to apply for them can also register for virtual information sessions taking place from 11 a.m. to noon on Jan. 10 and 3–4 p.m. on Jan. 25.
Resources to support the development of seed grant proposals are available on the DEI Impact Grant SharePoint site.
The DEI Impact Grant program is sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Inquiries, questions and requests for additional support may be sent to DEI Program and Assessment Manager Lynda Duran at lynda.duran@colorado.edu.
See a list of funded proposals for summer 2023 and the 2023–24 academic year, as well as the related resources page.
Join an employee affinity group in the new year
Faculty and staff can participate in the campus’s employee affinity groups to build community with colleagues, peers and allies, share resources and benefit from training and professional development opportunities.
Through employee affinity groups, faculty and staff will meet regularly in a mutually supportive setting and advocate for policy changes and new programming. Other desired outcomes include supporting the recruitment and retention of historically minoritized groups and their allies.
The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sponsors the groups, providing guidance, funding access and programmatic assessments.
Employee affinity groups are independently established and sustained and are not part of the university’s formal governance structure, and each group determines its own scope and priorities, said David Humphrey, assistant vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, whose team leads programming support for the groups.
Visit the DEI Resource Hub to obtain more information about joining an existing affinity group or starting a new one.
Upcoming events
- Women’s Leadership Symposium, Feb. 29: Proposals are now being accepted for the 2024 symposium, which will explore the variety of ways authentic leadership is present in the campus’s communities. The annual event was also created to empower confidence in leadership styles and practices and engage the resilience in tomorrow’s leaders. Learn more about symposium themes and the proposal process.
- TRANSforming Gender Conference, March 16–17: Proposals for presenting at the conference are now being accepted. Learn more about the topics and proposal process.
Use the campus Events Calendar to find more ways to stay connected.
In case you missed it
- ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and Indigenous representation in film
- Soul sisters, funksters and Afro-disco divas: The heroes of an unsung movement
- How Indigenous knowledge can help solve the climate crisis
- Don’t always trust what you see when it comes to Israel-Hamas war videos
Sustaining our practice of inclusion
Campus efforts and investments to address pressing and painful inequities at CU Boulder are only a beginning. Creating a culture of belonging will take each member of our community practicing sustained personal work to truly embrace and support diverse perspectives and intersectional identities in our community.
Chancellor Philip DiStefano and other campus leaders urge every member of our community to join in learning more about diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism, and to work continuously together to address these challenges more actively and in ways that can help authentically transform our campus culture.
Campus resources
- CU Boulder Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Website: Find more information about the campus’s work to create and sustain a more inclusive campus community and explore the results of the 2021 Campus Culture Survey.
- Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS): Provides a focal point for Black community and culture at CU Boulder and a multipurpose space where scholars, students, artists, activists and allies come together to study Africa, African Americans and the African diaspora.
- Center for Asian Studies (CAS): Strives to be a space of community, curiosity and respectful engagement with Asia, views the area studies endeavor as a necessary yet distinct complement to disciplinary knowledge, and recognizes the historic and geographic centrality that Asia has and continues to play in the human venture.
- Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS): Promotes collaborative research focusing on local and global Indigenous knowledge and fosters projects that aspire to open conversations in Colorado and the world.
- Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL): Offers programs focused on creating inclusive classrooms and supports CU’s community of educators through free consultations, teaching resources, programs, seminars, workshops and other events.
- CU Boulder History Project: Seeks to share CU Boulder’s history based on intersectional perspectives to demonstrate our commitment to inclusive excellence and to deepen our institutional memory.
- Latin American and Latinx Studies Center (LALSC): Provides an institutional space for research, teaching and discussion on Latin America and Latinx/Latina/Latino studies.
- Research and Innovation Office (RIO): Offers resources focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion in research and innovation.
- University Libraries: Provides a rich assortment of diverse reading materials and other resources, events and initiatives for students, faculty, staff, alumni and Colorado residents.
