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Weekly Three 02/21/22

Greetings Miami University,

Here is this week's diversity, equity, inclusion "weekly three" from the Office of Institutional Diversity:

This Spring the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion welcomes new staff to continue to build on our efforts to create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable Miami community. Following the completion of a national search, two new Directors will be joining OIDI this month. Each of them will focus on programming and strategic initiatives as part of the OIDI team charged with supporting and leading Miami’s DEI vision and mission. This is in line with DEI Taskforce Pillar 4: Structural and Resource Support, Recommendations 1 and 2, to staff and restructure OIDI. In addition to the new staff, OIDI looks forward to welcoming two Undergraduate Social Media Interns during Spring 2022. We will be featuring new OIDI team members in the Weekly Three throughout this month.

One: DEI Implementation

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion "Behind the Scenes" Town Halls

In line with Pillar 5: Inclusion and Accountability, Recommendation 3, OIDI hosts “Behind the Scenes” Townhalls to provide insights and details of how DEI is embedded in the decision-making processes and practices of each division. This Spring we invite the Miami community to join an expanded DEI Behind the Scenes Townhall Series, featuring Colleges and Deans.


View previous "Behind the Scenes" videos

Now Accepting Submissions for Women’s History Month and Deaf History Month in March

Working in close collaboration with faculty, staff, and student partners, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion provides opportunities for the Miami community to continue our learning and engage in meaningful programming that recognizes, examines, and values historical legacies of a diverse array of identities. Heritage Month programming supports Miami’s inclusive excellence and DEI mission and connects to, among other areas, DEI Task Force Pillar 2: Cultural Consciousness, which encourages the Miami University community to enhance our awareness, knowledge, and skills to enrich and renew our intercultural competence. Submit your proposal considering priority deadlines for each proposed history and heritage month celebrations

OIDI Welcomes Two Undergraduate Student Interns for Spring 2022

Anikka Cook

Anikka Cook, Class of 2022, is a History and Strategic Communication Double Major, from Burlington, Iowa.

“I'm excited to increase student engagement and involvement with OIDI's digital and traditional marketing platform in order to reach more students across campus.”

Evelyn Morrison

Evelyn Morrison, Class of 2025, is a Public Administration, Data Analytics, and Sustainability major from Brewster, Ohio.

“As an intern for OIDI I will be focusing on maintaining a social media presence for the office to expand our communication to the Miami community. Our social media platforms will provide information/links to OIDI initiatives, community updates, and specific holidays or recognition events that are upcoming. I also hope to use our platforms to recognize the diversity, equity, inclusion work of those in our community with photos and interviews for the whole community to enjoy. I am looking forward to collaborating with other OIDI staff and student interns to continue our work in the Miami community.”

Director of Programming and Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Hiram Ramirez

Hiram Ramirez

Hiram Ramirez, Director of Programming and Strategic Initiatives, will be focused on collaborating with campus members to enhance the DEI programming on campus while also advancing critical strategic initiatives geared at building capacity and culture change. When asked why he joined Miami University he shared, “In chatting with colleagues and students on campus during my interview process, I saw the deep investment in living diversity and inclusion. There was also an openness at challenging each other and being willing to innovate to address the gaps on campus. This dynamic energy and investment to enact systemic and structural changes were the indicators that made me realize that Miami was an institution I had to work at!” He has been at multiple institutions for the past twelve years working in various capacities to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. He is passionate about social justice work and engaging campus stakeholders in moving the needle around systemic change to improve the climate on campus. In addition, Dr. Ramirez’s research focuses on Latino men, machismo, academic success, queer identity, LatCrit theory, and other topics in higher education. His work strives to support the cultivation of a more inclusive campus community that honors the intersectional identities of students, faculty, and staff.

Director of Programming and Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Samuel Kwapong

Samuel Kwapong
My role as one of the directors of programming and strategic initiatives will be to promote and sustain the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence and an equitable, inclusive, and diverse campus culture by building on existing programming efforts to design, implement, lead, and assess systemic, sustainable DEI programming across the university. My most recent role before Miami was serving as the Director of the Offices of Multicultural and International Student Services at Point Loma Nazarene University. I believe we are at a very crucial moment in our world, and our actions now determine the future and lives of this society, and the idea of advancing equity for all is as important now as it has ever been. Through dialogue and mutual respect and understanding for each other, I know we will achieve great things here at Miami. I have many interests outside the classroom and work. I am an avid reader and sports enthusiast. I love football (yes both types), and a diehard New England Patriots fan and Manchester United fan. I do not particularly like coffee but I love tea and would love to have a cup with you so visit us in Laws Hall!

Two: Community Updates

CSDI Resources

The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion now has a Resources page with resources that affirm students around a variety of identities, including gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and disability, as well as resources around general safety and wellbeing. These resources welcome all Miami students.

Picturing Black History

Picturing Black History is a collaboration between the history departments at Miami and Ohio State and Getty Images, the world's largest repository of photography. The project allows historians from around the country to find images in Getty's archive and to write essays that deepen our appreciation of them and of Black history. "These are photos you haven't seen," says Steven Conn, W. E. Smith Professor of History who runs the project on the Miami side, "and stories you've never heard."

Marianne D. McComb Reading Series Presents

  • Brian Broom’s, Punch Me Up to the Gods, March 1, 2022, 7:30 PM Punch Me Up to the Gods, is about growing up Black and gay in Ohio. The memoir was an NYT Editor’s Pick and a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus prize. Brian's work has appeared in The Washington Post, Poets and Writers, Medium, and more. His film, Garbage, won the Audience Choice Award at the Cortada Short Film Festival and was a semi-finalist in the Portland Short Fest. Register for Punch Me Up to the Gods
  • Michael Torres’s, An Incomplete List of Names, March, 14, 7:30, 2022, An Incomplete List of Names was selected for the National Poetry Series and named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. In 2019, Torres received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and The Loft Literary Center for the Mirrors & Windows Program. A former Artist-in-Residence at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, he is currently a 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow. Register for An Incomplete List of Names

Robert E. Strippel Memorial Fund for Continuing Dialogue on Justice - Spring Series 2022

Depolarizing Within Workshop

Wednesday, March 2 A free workshop to support you to become aware of your "inner polarizer" and learn methods for disagreeing without contempt and ridicule. Much of today’s polarization is driven by how we talk with like-minded people about those on the other side. Too often, we stereotype, dismiss, or ridicule our fellow citizens who support the other political party, its leaders, and its policies.

Register for Depolarizing Within

Skills for Bridging the Divide Workshop

Saturday, April 2

A free workshop to learn & practice skills for having more respectful & productive political conversations with people on the "other side." There's a lot of stress these days among family members and friends who are divided politically, and the current polarized public conversation doesn't help. Please join us for a Braver Angels Skills for Bridging the Divide Workshop and learn skills for having respectful conversations that clarify differences, search for common ground, and affirm the importance of the relationship.

Register for Skills for Bridging the Divide

Three: Celebrations & Recognition

Black History Month

Black history is American history, and during this month we foreground conversations about Black representation, identity, and diversity in our nation, state and campus history. We honor the history and achievements of African Americans past and present. This heritage month is also an opportunity for the Miami community to assess the work we have accomplished and still have to do. At Miami, we stand in solidarity with all who advocate for transformative change and justice and we declare unequivocally that Black Lives Matter, this and every month. We encourage all Miamians to engage in dialogue and allyship with our campus community organizations such as BSAA, ABFAS, ASU, BWE, NPHC, NABA, NSBE, NBLSA.

View Programming

 

Upcoming Religious Holy Days and Holidays & Inclusive Scheduling

Please see the academic affairs calendar and complementing interfaith narrative calendar for policies and for more information, and regarding religious holy days and holidays observed by Miami Community members during the month of February and future months.

 

With Love and Honor,

Dr. Cristina Alcalde

Cristina Alcalde, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
Professor, Global and Intercultural Studies
vpDiversity@MiamiOH.edu