Greetings Miami Community

Here is the “weekly three” from the Office of Institutional Diversity.

One: DEI Implementation Group Updates

Prioritizing Work

As you may know, just before summer 2020 President Crawford created a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) task force to advance DEI efforts across our campus. That task force completed their work in mid August 2020, and in September 2020 that work transitioned to the DEI implementation group to examine the recommendations and discuss the feasibility of moving them forward. The group is currently working diligently with campus partners on each recommendation. The plan is for the implementation group to remain intact into December. The work will then be transitioned to the Council on Diversity and Inclusion, where it will be housed from there on out. The point of this update is to help clarify for the community the history of the work, the current status of it, and its future direction. Please stay tuned for more updates about this work and how each recommendation will be addressed. This is my approach to being transparent and accountable to the community and the work we have been entrusted to see through.

DEI “Behind the Scenes” Town Halls

Past town hall sessions can be found at DEI Video Series. We also encourage you to register for our next town hall session with EMSS Admissions personnel, which will take place on November 17th at 3:00 p.m. The hope for this session is to gain a better understanding of the factors influencing the recruitment of a diverse student population in our community. Please submit your questions prior to the session so that the panelists can adjust their presentation accordingly.

Two: Being Engaged in a Difficult Election Season

As we near the Nov. 3rd election, there are several programming efforts to help members of our community be responsible and engaged citizens.  

• The Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute is developing several dialogue and listening sessions, which will be published by Nov. 1st.
• Dr. John Forren, Director of the Menard Family Center, will be participating in a daily Q&A on social media (see student life information below) related to the election. You can also learn more about the Menard Family Center in my previous weekly 3.
• ON October 28th at 7:30pm, the JANUS Forum and the Menard Family Center for Democracy will present Donna Brazile (former Democratic National Committee chair) and Joe Grogan (former Director of President Trump's Domestic Policy Council) speaking on the 2020 elections. Be sure to register and tune in.
• Student Life is working with Political Science faculty to answer student questions on their Instagram page this week and next. You can also find more information at the student life voting website.
• Additionally, the student health will expand its Campus Care program in November. 

I encourage you to tune in. Of course, please do not lose sight of the responsibilities and consequences as a member of our community.

Three: Veterans Day | A Virtual Tribute

Miami Regionals Center for Veterans Services is hosting a Virtual Veterans Day Tribute on Wednesday, Nov. 11th, and are calling for video and photo submissions through November 6th.  We encourage you to participate in this virtual event to honor past and present service members of the United States military.

Love and Honor,

Anthony James Jr.