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Weekly Three 01/07/21

Greetings Miami Community

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

One: DEI Implementation Group Updates

  • The winter 2020/2021 DEI Task Force recommendation update is currently being reviewed by university leadership. Keep an eye out for it. The report will be published on the website of the Office of Institutional Diversity & Inclusion. 
  • We would like to promote all events related to Diversity and Inclusion on our homepage. In order to do this, you must submit your event to the university calendar and tag it with Diversity and Inclusion under Events By Interest. Each office should have a designated calendar manager already assigned. If needed, you can review the Localist calendaring tutorial.

Two: Community Update

Ceremony Updates

  • In December 2019, Miami University named three residential hall lobbies after civil rights workers who were slain in Mississippi (James Chaney Lobby, in Beechwoods Hall; Andrew Goodman Lobby, in Hillcrest Hall; Michael Schwerner Lobby, in Stonebridge Hall). Tentative plans for the ceremony are summer 2021. 
  • In September 2020, Miami University renamed the Campus Avenue Building after its first Black graduate, Nellie Craig Walker. Once the new lettering is installed, there will be a virtual ceremony. The family of Nellie Craig Walker will be invited to campus in late Spring 2021. 
  • Commemorative coins for both events will be available to ceremony participants and family members, with limited quantities available for community members.
  • We thank you in advance for your understanding and patience, as COVID-19 has significantly disrupted plans for such ceremonies. 

Three: Celebrations & Recognition

President Crawford & Kara Strass on Joe Madison SiriusXM

With multiple high-profile sports teams recently changing their Native mascots, there is renewed interest in what has happened at Miami University since they changed their mascot 24 years ago.  President Crawford and Kara Strass, Director of Miami Tribe Relations, joined Joe Madison (a 2020 recipient of the Miami University Freedom Summer '64 award) on SiriusXM to discuss how Miami's decision to change their mascot has allowed the relationship between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University to strengthen. You can learn more about this mutually-beneficial relationship on the Miami Tribe Relations website.

MLK Day & Black History Month Planning

  • Black History Month planning is underway. Please stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. There will be two MLK day ceremonies. 
  • The city of Oxford, in collaboration with Miami University will record a virtual ceremony that will be released on MLK Day and will be available through the duration of Black history month. 

  • Miami University will have poet, writer, activist, and educator, Nikki Giovanni to campus on January 18th from 1:00-2:30pm for a virtual event: Anti-Racist Activism Then and Now: A Conversation with Nikki Giovanni.  A link for the event will be available in next week’s Weekly Three, and will be posted on the university calendar.  The partners collaborating to make this event possible are: The Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion, The Office of the President,  The Office of Institutional Diversity, Black Student Action Association, Diversity Affairs Council, Graduate Students of Color Association,  Miami University Associated Student Government, and Miami University Alumni Association.

MLK Creative Arts Exposition

The Oxford NAACP is seeking submissions of visual art to celebrate the anniversary of the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month in February for a Virtual Creative Arts Exposition on Monday, January 18, 2021.  Submissions may be inspired by the life of Dr. King, or topics of civil and human rights in general. Participation is open to any local resident and to Miami students.  Digital entries must be submitted to wengleak@miamioh.edu no later than 2pm, Tuesday January 12, 2021, and should include the artist’s first and last name, email address, and phone number.  For more information please contact Ann Wengler, Oxford NAACP at 513-255-5171 or wengleak@miamioh.edu.  

 

Love and Honor,

Dr. Anthony James, Jr.