Connective Issues: A UMass Chan diversity and inclusion blog

This academic year, the Diversity and Inclusion Office will address the ways diversity, equity and inclusion and disability can positively intersect by focusing its speaker series, Centering the Margins, on the theme, “Advancing Accessibility and Inclusion in Health Care for People with Disabilities.” The series will kick off on Sept. 25 at noon online, with the topic “Going beyond the basics: Successful communication between health care professionals and patients who are deaf, late deafened or hard of hearing.” Members of the UMass Chan community are encouraged to attend.

Tailored orientations like UMass Chan’s Inclusive Excellence Orientation, held for students historically underrepresented in medicine, are necessary because they remind students that they belong and gives them an opportunity to meet people who will be part of their network and sphere of influence.

The environmental justice movement began alongside the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Led by people of color, particularly Black people, the movement sought to bring attention to the lack of environmental protections in communities of color.

UMass Chan offers multiple opportunities to engage in service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Pipeline Programs aid in diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism

This newsletter was created by our Diversity and Inclusion Office to serve as a platform for the often-unheard voices of individuals living in the margins whose stories are integral to our shared human experience and align with the values and mission of our institution. In this special issue, we seek to do just that by focusing on a story of great breadth and timeliness: the crisis in Israel and Palestine. Through the powerful voices of our community, we aim to shed light on the diverse and nuanced ways individuals within our community have been shaped and transformed because of this long and ongoing crisis.

In this spirit, the Diversity and Inclusion Office at UMass Chan Medical School created the “Power of Joy” series to explore how joy is used as a mechanism to foster unity, change and resilience in marginalized and/or underrepresented communities.

The Committee on Equal Opportunity and Diversity (CEOD) at UMass Chan Medical School was formed to ensure everyone in the Medical School community feels seen and heard and has access to opportunities that make them feel a part of the work to create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and just organization.

Native American Heritage Month calls us to pause and celebrate indigenous peoples of the past and present and to reflect upon and recommit to the promises we have made to restore right relationships with tribal nations.

While the Diversity and Inclusion Office team takes responsibility in guiding the work, diversity, equity and inclusion work itself is a collective responsibility.