Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Events

June 17, 2020 - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

Please join us at the next Undoing Racism workgroup meeting to build collective community and continue our efforts to organize and implement anti-racist practice in the SSW. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome! A zoom link will be sent out before the meeting to those who register.

RSVP Here »

May 19, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET

The SSW Book Club will meet via Zoom to discuss Separated, by Dr. William Lopez.

The book examines immigration law enforcement, focusing on one raid in Washtenaw County.

You are welcome to join us, whether or not you have attended before, and whether or not you have finished the book.

All members of the SSW community are invited. A Zoom link will be sent the morning of the discussion. (If needed, email Betsy Williams, David Pratt, or Joe Galura for the link.) 

April 30, 2020 - 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM ET

Lavender Graduation is a celebration of LGBTQ graduates at the University of Michigan. Graduates from any school/college in the University from any academic level are welcome to participate. All participating graduates will receive a FREE rainbow 2020 tassel, lavender cords, and a Lavender Degree! Families, students, faculty, and staff are all welcome to join the celebration.  Light appetizers will be served after the ceremony.

April 23, 2020 - 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM ET

This week we will have several special guests from Detroit at our conversation on Identity and Vulnerabilities in the time of COVID-19: 

Ayesha Ghazi-Edwin: LEO Lecturer, School of Social Work

Alicia McCormick: Youth Development Director, Urban Neighborhood Initiatives

Dillon Cathro: Director of Youth Organizing, Urban Neighborhood Initiatives  

Zachary Rowe: Executive Director, Friends Of Parkside

Sonia Harb: Special Advisor on Detroit Engagement for the Office of the Provost

Reverend Charles Williams: MSW candidate, Chair of the National Action Network in Michigan.

Fatima Salman: Program Coordinator, ENGAGE: Detroit

Undrea V. Goodwin: Public Health Project Coordinator, SEMHAC

Guests will contribute their perspective from Detroit, an epicenter of the pandemic and will join us in a conversation on how multiple personal identities make us more or less vulnerable to the virus and to its associated stigma and inequities. This follows on conversations the Faculty Allies for Diversity have been having for the past four weeks on social consequences of the pandemic. For the next few weeks, we will invite guests to speak on issues concerning other areas (New Orleans, Brazil) hard hit by COVID-19. Please join us!

RSVP

April 16, 2020 - 4:00 PM ET

The compelling documentary centers on the aftermath of the 2015 fatal shooting of nine African-American church members at the historic Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C.; namely, the public forgiveness by the families of the victims and the survivors of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist convicted of the killings. This act of grace ushered a way forward in healing their city — and the entire nation. A facilitated discussion will follow the 90-minute film. Refreshments will be provided. 

Campus partners include the Center for the Education of Women, North Campus Research Complex, Trotter Multicultural Center, and U-M Voices of Staff – Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team. Michigan Medicine partners include Fast Forward Medical Innovation, Medical School Executive Administration, Medical School Faculty Development, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, and Rogel Cancer Center.

RSVP Here »

April 16, 2020 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

Dear Social Work Community:

This week we will have special guest at our conversation on stigma in the time of COVID-19: Charles Sanky, MD Candidate from Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City.

Charles will contribute his perspective from New York City the epicenter of the pandemic and will join us in a conversation on how multiple personal identities make us more or less vulnerable to the virus and to its associated stigma and inequities. This follows on conversations the Faculty Allies for Diversity have been having for the past four weeks on social consequences of the pandemic. For the next few weeks, we will invite guests to speak on issues concerning other areas (Detroit, New Orleans) hard hit by COVID-19. Please join us!

Facilitator: Rogério M. Pinto 

Faculty Allies Co-Chairs Rogério Pinto and Addie Weaver

Faculty Allies members: Trina Shanks, Todd Herrenkohl, David Córdova and Lorraine Gutiérrez

DEI Director Larry Gant

We look forward to having a robust discussion.

April 9, 2020 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

Dear Social Work Community:

For the past two weeks, the Faculty Allies for Diversity (FAD) in collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI), has held social support virtual conversations among those individuals wishing to prevent and stop stigmatization and all issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The April 9 conversation will add a focus on identity and intersectionality.

Please join:

Facilitator: Rogério Pinto 

Faculty Allies Co-Chairs Rogério Pinto and Addie Weaver

DEI Director Larry Gant

Faculty Allies members: Trina Shanks, Todd Herrenkohl, David Córdova and Lorraine Gutiérrez

We look forward to having a robust discussion

April 8, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET

The SSW Book Club will meet via Zoom to discuss a short novel by Louise Erdrich, The Birchbark House.

This novel for young readers tells a family story of an Ojibwa girl, starting in 1847 near Lake Superior.

You are welcome to join us, whether or not you have attended before, and whether or not you have finished the book.

All members of the SSW community are invited. Please email Betsy Williams, David Pratt, or Joe Galura for the Zoom link.

April 2, 2020 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

Dear Social Work Community:

For the past two weeks, the Faculty Allies for Diversity (FAD) in collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI), has held social support virtual conversations among those individuals wishing to prevent and stop stigmatization and all issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The April 2nd conversation will add a focus on physical distancing and solidarity.

Please join:

Facilitator: Rogério Pinto 

Faculty Allies Co-Chairs Rogério Pinto and Addie Weaver

DEI Director Larry Gant

Faculty Allies members: Trina Shanks, Todd Herrenkohl, David Córdova and Lorraine Gutiérrez

We look forward to having a robust discussionCOVID-19: Stigma, Physical Distancing, and Solidarity

April 1, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET

Come take an opportunity to relax and unwind at the Free the Mind Wellness Fair! The fair will feature self-care activities, games, healthy snacks, and on-campus resources that support wellness. 

Co-sponsored by Mental Health Matters, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Office of Student Services.

March 28, 2020 - 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET

Learn about and discuss ways to bring back good/earned time credits within the Michigan prison system with local and state legislators. Featured Panelists include Senator Jeff Irwin, Senator Sylvia Santana and more!

RSVP Here »

March 13, 2020 - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET

Common Roots invites you to join them for a fun, food-filled mixer with student organizations of color at the School of Social Work! The hope is to foster community building, collaboration, and networking opportunities for different student organizations and their leaders.

RSVP Here »

*Common Roots is a committee consisting of representatives from the SSW’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the LatinX Social Work Coalition, Black Radical Healing Pathways, Association of Black Social Workers, the Office of Student Services, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition and other SSW students.

March 11, 2020 - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET

Please join the University of Michigan MLK Health Sciences Committee and the Institute for Social Research as we host author and ethicist Harriet A. Washington on March 11 for a presentation and discussion on her book "A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and its Assault on the American Mind." 

Harriet A. Washington has been the Shearing Fellow at the University of Nevada's Black Mountain Institute, a Research Fellow in Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School, and a senior research scholar at the National Center for Bioethics at Tuskegee University. She is the author of Deadly Monopolies, Infectious Madness, and Medical Apartheid, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Oakland Award, and the American Library Association Black Caucus Nonfiction Award.  

Does the dose make the poison? Are US patterns of environmental toxicity driven by socioeconomics or race? Are hereditarian scientists correct in ascribing intelligence to racial genetics? How have our habitual modes of thought blinded us to the true nature of environmental toxicity, and what challenges face public health practitioners as they assess the roles of industry, science and government?

RSVP Here »

March 4, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET

Saeed Jones is an acclaimed queer Black poet.

The SSW Book Club will discuss his coming of age memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives.

You are welcome to join us, whether or not you have attended before, and whether or not you have finished the book.

All members of the SSW community are invited. Feel free to bring your lunch.

February 24, 2020 - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM ET

For youth and adults of color, prolonged exposure to racial discrimination may result in debilitating psychological, behavioral, and health outcomes. To help their children prepare for and prevent the deleterious consequences of discrimination, many parents of color utilize racial socialization, or communication about racialized experiences. Given heightened awareness to discrimination plaguing Black communities, better understanding of how racial socialization processes and skills development can help youth and parents heal from the effects of past, current, and future racial trauma is important. Greater racial socialization competency is proposed as achievable through intentional and mindful practice, thus, this workshop will explore theories and practices important in the healing processes of racial trauma. 

This event is being co-sponsored by the School of Education and the School of Social Work.

RSVP Here »

February 6, 2020 - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM ET

Join us for a LGBTQ Health and Wellness Week event focused on tension and trauma releasing excersices (TRE). TRE can help release muscular tension, reduce stress and calm the nervous system. 

February 5, 2020 - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM ET

LGBTQ activists have tried to make particular people into martyrs for political purposes. Some "martyrs" like Matthew Shepard have been successful, while others like F.C. Martinez have not. Those reasons have much to do with race, gender, class, and religion. This topic looks at several examples from mainstream media to think about LGBTQ acceptance in the United States.

February 3, 2020 - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM ET

Dr. Joy Saniyah, Ph.D is the founder and director of Integrative Empowerment Group. As a queer woman of color, Joy is passionate about working with those who are marginalized in society and underrepresented in help seeking environments. Joy has over 13 years of experience in working with college students at several major universities, including three years at CAPS at the University of Michigan.

January 29, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET

The SSW Book Club will discuss the memoir Ordinary Girls, by Jaquira Díaz.

You are welcome to join us, whether or not you have attended before, and whether or not you have finished the book.

All members of the SSW community are invited. Feel free to bring your lunch.

January 28, 2020 - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET

In honor of  MLK Symposium Events and the Community Action and Social Change Undergraduate Minor Program, 10 Year Anniversary: 

The following session will explore themes presented in Tawana Petty’s book Towards Humanity: Shifting the Culture of Anti-Racism Organizing. Through a lecture and panel discussion, the presenter will explore pressing issues facing antiracist organizing and  her vision and approach to a humanistic philosophy. Following the lecture, the speaker will host a conversation with community development organizer Lauren A. Hood to discuss how Detroit based organizers navigate questions, themes, and challenges in ant-racist organizing, applications of humanism, and other guiding philosophical principles toward change. This event is co-sponsored by the Community Action and Social Change Minor Program, SSW Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Semester in Detroit Program. 

Tawana Petty (Honeycomb): Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty is a mother, social justice organizer, youth advocate, poet and author. She is intricately involved in water rights advocacy, data and digital privacy education, and racial justice and equity work. She is Director of the Data Justice Program for the Detroit Community Technology Project (DCTP) and co-leads Our Data Bodies (ODB), a five-person team concerned about the ways our communities’ digital information is collected, stored, and shared by government and corporations. Tawana is a convening member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition (DDJC) on behalf of DCTP, which organizes Data DiscoTechs (discovering technology) fairs and other initiatives to foster media and digital literacy. She recently co-produced with ODB, the Digital Defense Playbook, a workbook of popular education activities and tools for data justice and data access for equity, as well as the report, A Critical Summary of Detroit's Project Green Light and Its Greater Context, on Detroit's Project Green Light surveillance program. Tawana is a co-founder of Riverwise Magazine, a quarterly magazine which lifts up community stories by Detroit residents, which might otherwise be misrepresented or underrepresented in local and national media. Riverwise Magazine recently produced a special surveillance issue, Detroiters Want to Be Seen, Not Watched. She is a board member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership (Boggs Center), a Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) Fellow, and the organizer of an annual art festival and artist retreat in historic Idlewild, Michigan, which convenes over 30 artists, organizers, herbalists and innovators each year to create art, share healing practices and respirit each other and the communities they serve. Tawana is the recipient of several awards, including the Spirit of Detroit Award, the Woman of Substance Award, Women Creating Caring Communities Award, Detroit Awesome Award, University of Michigan Black Law Student Association's Justice Honoree Award, was recognized as one of Who’s Who in Black Detroit in 2013 and 2015, the Wayne State Center for Peace and Conflict Studies' Peacemaker Award, and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition in 2018.

Lauren Hood: Born & raised in Detroit, Lauren A. Hood brings double consciousness to the practice of community development. Being both a trained practioner and a lifelong resident, Hood serves as a translator/negotiator between development entities and citizen stakeholders. Through her work as an Equitable Development Strategist, Hood develops engagement frameworks, facilitates dialogues, and creates platforms that allow for the emergence and inclusion of often unrecognized place based expertise in city planning and neighborhood development processes. Through her consultancy Deep Dive Detroit, Hood produces workshops and events on community engagement, equitable development and racial justice for civic, philanthropic & institutional clients. Passionate about preserving the city's cultural heritage, Hood regularly writes and delivers keynotes on the value of placekeeping, preserving black spaces and how to authentically engage community. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the City of Detroit Planning Commission and on the board of directors for Detroit Sound Conservancy, MoGo, and on the advisory board of the Urban Consulate.  She holds an undergraduate business degree and Masters Degree in Community Development, both from the University of Detroit Mercy. To learn more about Lauren A. Hood visit her website at laurenahood.com/work

Please note that the RSVP For this program is closed. Additional overflow space will be available in the School of Social Work Building, McGregor Commons lobby.

The program will also be available for remote access through live stream. See link below 

Live Stream »

This event is co-sponsored by the Community Action and Social Change Undergraduate Minor, SSW Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Semester in Detroit Program. 

January 8, 2020 - 11:45 AM to 12:00 PM ET

Join us for the kick off of the 21-Day Equity Challenge in a commitment to deepening your understanding of and willingness to confront racism for 21 consecutive days beginning January 6 and ending January 26. SIGN UP HERE! During every morning of the Challenge, you'll receive an email "prompt" with readings, videos and/or podcasts. You are encouraged to take about ten to fifteen minutes each day with the material in the prompt.

Throughout the month we will also be collectively reading Towards Humanity: Shifting the Culture of Anti-Racism Organizing by Tawana Petty.  Reading and reflections will occur in preparation for Tawana Petty's visit to University of Michigan School of Social Work. Please stop by for refreshments as we commit to fresh new efforts!

November 26, 2019 - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

All members of our SSW community are invited to participate in our regular meeting focused on undoing racism efforts. The first portion of the meeting will offer an opportunity for participants to share recent and current activities with the second portion leaving space for employees to engage in SEED workshop that was provided to students and for students to provide an update on ways concepts of power and oppression can continue to be advanced for the remainder of the academic year.

RSVP Here »

November 26, 2019 - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET

This session will focus on how social workers can effectively engage and serve alongside immigrant communities. There will be presenters from Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Lunch will be served.

RSVP Here »