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A call to action

What the U is doing, what EDI is doing and what you can do to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Repository for action

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) has launched a new website for departments across campus to submit their events and initiatives focused on racial justice. To learn more about what the U is doing, what EDI is doing and what you can do, visit diversity.utah.edu/call-to-action.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion stands in solidarity with our Black family, friends, neighbors, students, faculty, staff and colleagues. We mourn with them as we collectively process the more profound meaning and complexities of the wounds that have been inflicted with the injustices and deaths of all the named and unnamed people over the past 400 years. When we say that Black lives matter, we must also act like Black lives matter. We must first take a look in the mirror and face painful, uncomfortable truths of our past. We must come to terms with our unpleasant realities. We must show up with urgency, courage and compassion toward building a more equitable campus, community and country. We, as an EDI family, commit to serving the university community in helping chart a path forward by:

  • Revolutionizing practices that establish a culture of belonging and expanding the university’s actions towards a diverse, equitable and inclusive campus. We will start by examining our division’s policies and practices related to hiring, retention, staff wellness and support.
  • Continuing to work with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Asian/Asian American and queer scholars and practitioners, as well as scholars and practitioners with disabilities who can help lead us in racial justice, social justice and racial healing work.
  • Identifying required training to departments/schools/colleges throughout the university and the University Hospital focused on fostering a culture dedicated to equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism.
  • Establishing spaces for people to process racial injustices and hold the tough, uncomfortable conversations necessary in our collective journey toward racial healing.
  • Partnering with our public safety and student affairs colleagues to develop workshops where we can participate in creating a new model of community policing.
  • Providing opportunities for all community members to educate themselves about anti-Black racism and the pervasive racism that impacts all our lives.
  • Expanding the development of aspiring Black students, staff and faculty leaders through participation in university and national leadership programs, expanding mentorship and preparation for promotion.
  • Providing support to all units who commit to action plans laying out specific measures that promote the recruitment, retention and success of historically marginalized populations, and more specifically, Black students, faculty and staff.

We call on our community to:

  • Acknowledge and own our racism, then fight it.
  • Educate yourself and your colleagues, family, and friends on the historical enslavement and systemic oppression of Black people/African Americans.
  • Acknowledge the experiences of those who have suffered racial injustice while publicly speaking up against anti-Black racism, discrimination and bias.
  • Connect and collaborate with us to dismantle the legacies of white supremacy that pervade our educational system

Together we can eradicate the racial hierarchies and deep systemic inequities in our society and across our campus.

In solidarity,

The Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The Office for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The Office for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – School of Medicine
The Office for Inclusive Excellence
The American Indian Resource Center
The Black Cultural Center
The LGBT Resource Center
The Dream Center
EDI Partners
Student Affairs
The Office of Undergraduate Studies