MSE Anti-Racism Work Group
The MSE faculty bring you a message that racism in all of its forms has no place at our university nor in our department. We are committed to maintaining an anti-racist environment for faculty, staff, students and visitors. Because such statements are insufficient by themselves to correct department climate issues, we therefore commit to real and significant action to identify actions that propagate racism within the department and enact policies to promote anti-racism and inclusive excellence. Our efforts are spearheaded by ourinternal Anti-Racism Working Group composed of students, faculty and staff.
2022-2023 MSE Anti-Racist Work Group (ARWG) Members:
- Tim Rupert, Professor, ARWG Chair
- Stephany Alonso, MSE Undergraduate Student
- Will Bowman, Assistant Professor
- Shen Dillon, Professor
- Salma Anter El-Azab, Ph.D. Student
- Allon Hochbaum, Associate Professor
- Jacob Norman, Ph.D. Student
- Regina Ragan, Professor
- Amy S. Ricks, MSE CAO
- Desiree Rios, Student Services Adviser
We hold quarterly ARWG meetings and department town halls to discuss current events impacting our community, best practices for promoting inclusion and equity, and how to apply these practices within the department and curriculum.
Statement of purpose:
The societal problems of social injustice and racism compel us to look inward and ask what we can do to confront racism and bias as a department. Particularly timely are the issues of anti-Black and anti-Asian racism, which are manifest in our local, national and international communities. We also recognize that other members of our department community experience discrimination, including Latinx, international students and LGBTQ+ groups. By promoting an anti-racist culture, we aim to make our campus an inclusive and supportive environment for everyone.
With this in mind, we have created the MSE Anti-Racism Working Group to identify and remediate policies and actions within the MSE department that promote and propagate racism. First, we will investigate the nature and source of racial inequality in our MSE department. These actions will include starting a potentially uncomfortable dialogue with students, staff and faculty to educate ourselves on the scope of inequities in academia and investigate such inequities in our department. Second, we will enact policies to directly promote anti-racism within MSE@UCI, supporting our mission of fostering a diverse and thriving community of students, staff and faculty.
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