Office of the Vice President for Diversity | Diversity Newsletter
March 2021 Issue
There are several event announcements in this issue. Follow the hyperlinked images throughout the newsletter for more information.
Congratulations to the new FIIE Fellows

On February 22nd, six faculty members were granted Fellow status for completing the Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence:
  • Steve Simske, Systems Engineering, Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering
  • Alexandra Keller, Amplify Learning Community, College of Natural Sciences
  • Anna Lavoie, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Warner College of Natural Resources
  • Devon Fulford, English, College of Liberal Arts
  • Elizabeth Williams, Communications Studies, College of Liberal Arts
  • Theresa Wenimont, Management, College of Business

These Fellows join 57 additional faculty who have completed the FIIE program, representing 32 departments and all eight colleges. The 2021-2022 cohort, who are already underway in the year-long program, is the largest yet with 35 faculty participants!
The 2020-2021 Fellows* were recognized during a virtual ceremony and received their award plaque via mail. Each Fellow presented on their chosen project and were joined by administrators from their colleges. Thanks to President Joyce McConnell for joining the celebration and wishing the faculty well as they continue their journeys as inclusive instructors!

*While these six Fellows were able to continue their participation and complete the program, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented several additional faculty cohort members from completing FIIE in 2020-2021. These faculty members are continuing their progress in the 2021-2022 year and we look forward to celebrating their status as Fellows next year!
Just Launched: The DEI Inventory
At the request of the Office of the President and with their support, the Office of the Vice President for Diversity has created a DEI Inventory Form. Information about this form has been shared via email with university Deans and Vice Presidents.

Diversity efforts at Colorado State University have grown tremendously over the past few years, including the creation of new positions, efforts, and initiatives which all work toward centering diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organizational structures. As a university, we know that we do not act in isolation; our efforts can and should be coordinated and seen as collective action toward a more just and equitable university community. To that end, we are asking for your help in capturing diversity efforts at CSU over the past three years, in order to establish a benchmark for future long-term strategy and planning. 
 
We are asking departments, divisions, and work areas to submit diversity efforts through the form by March 19th. Organization of submissions within individual divisions and departments is up to the discretion of the Deans, Vice Presidents, and leaders of the respective units. Please coordinate with your respective leadership prior to submitting efforts to ensure that duplication is avoided.

Important Notes:
  • Only the last 3 years need to be reported, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021
  • This inventory is documenting DEI efforts focused on faculty, staff, and graduate students, and does not include undergraduates at this time
  • Please coordinate with colleagues within your unit or department to avoid duplicate entries, if possible


Join the Rams Read committee for a keynote and conversation with the author of Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine, on March 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Register online.

As the book chosen to launch Colorado State University’s Rams Read program, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: an American Lyric is a powerful exploration of the experience of race and racism in the US. As Rankine shows readers in her use of lyric essays, poems, and images throughout the book, dialogue and discourse are two incredibly important tools for meaning-making, but they are not the only tools. In addition to the keynote and conversation, the Rams Read Virtual Gallery has been launched. This Virtual Gallery is a platform for students to question, explore, and manifest what lives at the intersection of art and activism as well as the artist’s role within the racial justice movement.

Warner College of Natural Resources

Long Practiced Ways of Being on the Land
Hosted by Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, this series focuses on historically underrepresented communities who have always protected, defended and cared for our lands. A variety of scholars, professionals and leaders will share long-held generational knowledge in harmony with land stewardship. These webinars intend to sow new seeds of thought and understanding into our collective consciousness. Embracing all natural resource perspectives and practices will lead our disciplines forward into a more just, equitable and inclusive present and future.

Also from Warner College of Natural Resources, the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability hosted several sessions of the Environmental Justice: Intersections of Nature and Society in January and February. View each of the recordings, from Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Environmental Justice to Urban Wildlife Conservation and Environmental Justice, at the ESS Events website.

Looking for a volunteer opportunity? Sign-up! The MURALS (Multicultural Undergraduate Research Art and Leadership Symposium) program is seeking volunteers to help us support students of color during our symposium. 
 
Please review each task and time frame. Select what date(s) and time(s) work best for you. We need help on Thursday, March 25th and/or Friday, March 26th. We will also require some volunteers for the week after the event to help with putting together post-MURALS gift bags for participants. Please keep an eye out for an additional message from us regarding this closer to the event. 
 
Step 1 – Sign up for timeslot(s) to volunteer at MURALS:
Thank you in advance for sharing your time to volunteer and support our students at MURALS 2020!
 
Sign up for a time to help volunteer at MURALS 2021 on Thursday, March 25th and/or Friday, March 26th.
 
MURALS is virtual this year! Volunteers will be room moderators, welcoming students and being the point person to communicate any technical issues with MURALS committee members. Specific roles and their descriptions are listed on the Sign Up Genius.
 
Step 2 – Sign up for a volunteer orientation/training session:
Don’t forget! Also sign-up and [click here] for a volunteer orientation/training session. Since MURALS is virtual, everyone is required to attend a session. If you are unable to attend any of the times, please e-mail Marie Tyrrell (Marie.Tyrrell@colostate.edu) or Stephanie Zee (Stephanie.Zee@colostate.edu) and they will work with you.
 
Wednesday, March 10, 2020: 4:00pm - 5:00pm, zoom link will be provided
Monday, March 15, 2020: 12:00pm - 1:00pm, zoom link will be provided
 
What is MURALS? 
The Multicultural Undergraduate Research Art and Leadership Symposium intentionally reaches out to students of color in various disciplines and exposes them to a variety of undergraduate research opportunities. 
 
Questions? Connect with Marie Tyrrell (Marie.Tyrrell@colostate.edu) or Stephanie Zee (Stephanie.Zee@colostate.edu
School of Social Work Brad Sheafor Lecture Series 
 
Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Dean and Professor of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, will present “Neurodecolonization and the Medicine Wheel: An Indigenous Approach to Healing the Traumas of Colonialism.”
 
The Medicine Wheel is a symbol used to represent wholeness, balance, and the natural cycles of life. This presentation will share how Indigenous Peoples’ recovery from the traumas of colonialism can be healed by combining Indigenous and Western evidenced-based research and knowledge into the Medicine Wheel.
 
Virtual Lecture free and open to all!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
6:00-7:30 p.m. MST
 
Students Empowering & Engaging in Dialogue
Request a SEED workshop for your organization, class, program or student staff!

SEED is accepting workshop requests for 3/20/21 - 5/5/21

Workshops are interactive, student-led, and promote awareness and skills around diversity, inclusion, and social justice topics:
Intro to Social Identities
Bias Awareness
Privilege & Oppression
Allyship
Dialogue Skills
Listening Skills

Visit https://seed.colostate.edu/workshops/ to learn more about workshops and topics.
Email Laxmi Shastry at seedcsu@colostate.edu to request a workshop. 
GROC Writes
Designed for graduate students and researchers of color to support their manuscript and proposal writing as we build a community of writers at CSU. Writing is easier when done among a community.
 
write. early. often. better. together.
 
This suite of offerings includes: 2 workshops, 2 retreats, weekly group-writing sessions, and an end-of-semester celebration of writing accomplished. All events will be held remotely on either MSTeams or Zoom.

Research and Assessment Dialogues Spring 2021
Hosted by the Division of Student Affairs

Mark your calendars for five research and assessment presentations on a range of topics, offered during the spring 2021 semester. All are welcome.

March 11 “Unpacking White College-Students’ Experiences in Serving as Social-Justice Allies”

March 23 “The Impact of Health and Well-being on CSU Student Academic Performance”

April 1 “Strolling & Straddling Academic Boundaries: A Critical Feminista Study on Motherscholars in Higher Education”. 

May 5 “Relationships between working-class, first-generation college students and their parent(s)/guardian(s): A phenomenological study on the impacts of middle-class socialization”

­­­­­­­­­­Please RSVP to david.mckelfresh@colostate.edu to receive a Zoom invite.
Student Demands Updates
The Student Demands website has been updated with various actions and progress made across the university.

A collection of anti-racist book titles
There are a variety of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice-related books available through the CSU Library. For e-books specifically related to anti-racism, visit the library's dedicated anti-racism webpage.

You can also find a variety of books on diversity, ethnicity, culture, feminism, LGBTQ+, privilege, and more at the CSU Bookstore.
Thank you!
Thank you for staying engaged and making it to the end of another very full issue of the Diversity Newsletter! We appreciate your support.