diversity

An Interview with the 2022 recipient of the Margaret C. Howell Outstanding Achievement Award

Natalie Bui — Wed, 04 May 2022 15:20:07 +0000

An Interview with the 2022 recipient of the Margaret C. Howell Outstanding Achievement Award Natalie Bui Wed, 05/04/2022 - 11:20

Congratulations to Jessica Kallista, adjunct faculty for the School of Art!

Read her interview below to learn about her fantastic contributions to ARIE and DEI initiatives around Mason. The $2,000 award is sponsored by the Office for DEI. Recipients reflect the hard work of our Mason community members committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learn about the award's nomination criteria.

What is your affiliation with Mason and how long have you been a Patriot?

At heart, I have been and always will be an incredibly community-minded person, and Mason is no exception. I’ve been affiliated with Mason since I arrived in 1997 as an MFA Poetry student, and each year that relationship seems to change and grow. I received my MFA from Mason in 2002. Since 2014, when I founded Olly Olly, an alternative art space in Historic Fairfax, I’ve worked with a number of Mason students, faculty, and alumni—providing a space for them to launch exhibitions, hold poetry readings, and engage in creative community. In addition to being a member of Mason’s School of Art faculty—teaching Critical Theory and Aesthetics—I also served as Gallery Director of Mason’s Buchanan Partners Art Gallery at Hylton Performing Arts Center from 2017-2019. I’m currently curator and co-moderator of CVPA’s Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group, and I serve on CVPA’s DEIA Senior Advisory Council. In addition, I am a Mason-parent, as two of my children are currently working towards their undergraduate degrees here at Mason. I’ve seen Mason grow from a much smaller University to the now 50-year-old institution we see before us today, and I can see its potential to bring diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to every member of this community.

Describe your role in the ARIE Taskforce’s Research Committee and why you were interested in joining the Taskforce.

As an artist and a faculty member in the School of Art, I wasn’t sure what to think of being asked to join the ARIE Taskforce’s Research Committee. But Rebekah K. Hersch, one of the chairs of the committee, was a great help in orienting me towards the larger definition of research—one that is inclusive of creative activity and work—and the goals of the committee. I think that this committee’s work is one important ingredient in our larger efforts in the DEIA space. The work is one more way to infuse the Mason community’s culture with a foundational understanding of, belief in, and work towards an equity-minded experience for every member of the Mason community.

Describe any other ARIE/DEI related initiatives you’re involved in.

I hope to bring a DEIA lens into every space I enter. The critically foundational bell hooks, who we so sadly lost last year, wrote about how the body of a professor is part of the curriculum. My body is part of the curriculum in all classes I teach and in all syllabi I create. As a Black, Queer, Autistic woman, I hope that my very existence in these spaces signals possibility to students who might not otherwise see a Black, Queer, Autistic woman as a professor, a gallerist, a curator, an artist, or policy maker. I also participate in numerous more explicitly DEIA-related activities such as the ARIE Taskforce’s Research Committee, CVPA’s DEIA Senior Advisory Council, and of course CVPA’s Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group (which has been active with 7 week programs for the past 6 semesters). All of these activities are important to our overarching efforts, and I’m especially excited about our upcoming Summer program of the Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group, during which we will focus entirely on Black Joy. This summer’s program runs from June 24 to August 5. We meet via zoom on Fridays from 1:00-2:30. All are welcome. https://cvpa.gmu.edu/events/arts-context/kritikos-anti-racist-reading-group

How has your work within the ARIE/DEI space impacted your career and/or education goals? What impact do you hope ARIE/DEI will have on the institution?

This is a great question, and my experience is that the deeper I dive into this work the more energized I feel about working for change, the more excited I am with the kinship I have found with others at Mason who are dedicated to this work, and the more clearly I can imagine the equitable future we are working to build. I can see a Mason community in which DEIA is successfully and perpetually infused within everything from the faculty to the student body to the curriculum to the ways we name, shape, resource, and support all aspects of education. And it is a beautiful future!

What advice would you give someone who wants to get involved with ARIE/DEI work?

I think CVPA’s Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group is an amazing example. We bring people with a variety of roles within and outside of Mason together (students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members). Together we listen and respond to one another by utilizing critical thinking in community. We dive deep and question everything together. The structure of our group dismantles hierarchies and stands as a model of the world we are working to create. I would also say to remember to find and focus on Black Joy, remember to rest and recover in the kinship of others, remember that self-care precedes the ability to care for others, self-care is part of the work, and remember that you aren’t alone in this work. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the people doing this work at Mason, and the strength that they give me to return again and again to this work.

Please tell us anything else you’d like to share with our readers.

Over the years at Mason I’ve worked in so many capacities and with multiple people in such a wide variety of roles, and what I’d want to share most of all with your readers is my immense gratitude for the opportunities, the experiences, and the relationships that the Mason community provides, each of which has been instrumental in all I’ve been able to create and accomplish at and with Mason. Mason continues to be an enriching environment full of vital scholarship, community, and creativity, and I know the future Mason can be even better.

Get more information on Mason's Outstanding Achievement Awards.

Topics

ARIE

diversity

Mason students well-positioned to fight for social justice, equity

Melanie Balog — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 21:32:03 +0000

Mason students well-positioned to fight for social justice, equity Melanie Balog Fri, 01/29/2021 - 16:32

Mason students and President Gregory Washington (bottom center) during a panel discussion at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Evening of Reflection on Thursday, Jan. 28. The event was hosted by the Coalition Building and Diversity Education, and co-hosted with University Life, Welcome2Mason, the Center For Culture, Equity, and Empowerment, Mason Votes, and Student Engagement for Racial Justice. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Students living in this era of racial reckoning and political unrest have far more resources at their disposal than social justice advocates had a half-century ago, George Mason University President Gregory Washington told a student panel at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Evening of Reflection on Thursday night.

“We are in a difficult time – but we’re in a great time,” Washington said during the virtual event. “We are indeed the embodiment of Martin Luther King’s dream. And while we have a lot of work to do . . . that dream will be fulfilled.

“He had the tools of his day, and those tools were nonviolent protests. We have nonviolent protests as a tool. But we have economic empowerment. We have political empowerment. We have other tools that we can employ to help people – all people – today.”

Washington’s nearly hour-long question-and-answer discussion with a panel of students, and the annual Spirit of King awards ceremony, highlighted the Evening of Reflection, which also included performances from the School of Music. The evening’s theme of “a burning house” alluded to the concern King once stated about how he might be “integrating into a burning house.”

Washington, reminding students that King added that social justice advocates should be the firefighters suggested that parts of the house might need to be destroyed but other parts just need to be repaired and remodeled. And Mason students can help lead the way.

“From a learning perspective, this is the greatest opportunity that I’ve seen easily in the last 30 to 40 years,” Washington said. “Our system, our way of life, is being stressed in such a significant way that we’re learning things about the inner workings of our government, the inner workings of our legal system.…and how they are stratified in order to continue to support and maintain the country in which we live.

“I firmly believe that we’re going to be a better nation because of what happened. A big part of helping us do that is the actual academic institution. We get to study this. We get to learn from it. And we get to debate it and put it out there for the world to learn.”

The student panelists were particularly interested in the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force that Washington established during his first month at Mason to make the university, as he said Thursday night, “a beacon to the country on what inclusive excellence means.”

The task force will conduct town halls Feb. 23 and March 4 to discuss findings and recommendations.

“We all have to come together and lock arms and make sure every single student here, regardless of who you are, gets what you need,” Washington said. “That’s what equity is all about. Equity is not about treating you all the same. It’s about giving you what you specifically need in order to be successful.”

Six members of the Mason community and one organization were honored with Spirit of King Awards for their roles in carrying out King’s vision today. They were:

Resounding Voice Award: Shauna Rigaud, PhD candidate in cultural studies

Emerging Alumni Award: Janae Johnson, assistant director, University Information

Superior Service Award: Black Student Alliance

Yara Mowafy Award: Ayah Abdelghany, information systems and operations management major

Spirit of King (student): Malek Salhab, neuroscience major

Spirit of King (staff): Kheia Hilton, staff clinician, Counseling and Psychological Services

Spirit of King (faculty): Richard Craig, MA director/faculty, Communication

Topics

Campus News

President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

diversity

Fighting the fires of social and racial unrest

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:16:18 +0000

Fighting the fires of social and racial unrest Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 01/21/2021 - 15:16

In This Story

Gregory Washington

To honor the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and recognize those on campus who actively live out his vision, George Mason University will host the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Evening of Reflection and awards ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

“This year, it is particularly important to continue on with the Evening of Reflection, as we consider the state of our nation,” said Hamal Strayhorn, director of the Office of Coalition Building and Diversity Education at Mason. “Our nation has experienced the loss of 400,000 lives to COVID-19, social and economic disparity in full view, the continuation of black bodies being murdered by police without accountability and racial unrest. On Jan. 6 we all witnessed a failed insurrection in our nation’s capital, which was rooted in divisiveness and racism.”

“Our hope is that students and attendees will understand that in our nation and world there is still a lot of work to do around issues of social justice, equity and inclusion and that ‘the time is always right to do what is right,’” Strayhorn said, quoting Dr. King.

Mason President Gregory Washington will be the event’s keynote speaker and will address this year’s theme of “The Burning House,” which comes from another Dr. King quote:

“I’ve come upon something that disturbs me deeply. We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house…”

“How will our commitment to anti-racism work be like the ‘firefighters’ preventing the ‘house’ from burning completely down?” Strayhorn said. “[President Washington] will also look at how the work of anti-racism touches and affects our students, professional members, the local community, the commonwealth and eventually our nation.”

Following the keynote address, representatives from the student body will have the opportunity to ask questions relating to the theme, the work the university is doing around anti-racism, or how they can play a part in keeping Dr. King’s vision at the forefront of social change, Strayhorn said.

Students, faculty and staff who are doing influential work centered on Dr. King’s vision will also be honored with the Spirit of King Awards.

“The MLK Evening of Reflection shows that George Mason University is committed to diversity, excellence, and inclusion and to addressing the hard questions of where we are as a people and nation,” Strayhorn said.

Topics

Spirit of King awards

anti-racism

Racism

systemic racism

President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Campus News

ARIE

The Complete List of Members of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force

John Hollis — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:45:00 +0000

The Complete List of Members of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force John Hollis Wed, 09/02/2020 - 12:45

Anti-Racism Inclusive Excellence

TASK FORCE

“George Mason University will become a national exemplar in anti-racism inclusive excellence.”

Task Force Chairs

Wendi Manuel-Scott – Associate Professor (CHSS)

Shernita Parker – Assistant Vice President for Human Resources

Task Force Members

Ignacia Moreno – Board of Visitor’s member

Zofia Burr – Dean, Honors College

Shelby Adams – President of Student Government (UG)

Laurence Bray - Associate Provost for Graduate Education

Van Bailey – Assistant Dean, Director of Diversity and Inclusion (UL

Christopher Carr – Chief Diversity Officer (VSE)

Charles Chavis – Asst. Professor of Conflict Resolution and History (Carter School) 

Shannon Davis – Faculty Senate Chair

Elizabeth DeMulder – Professor and Academic Program Coordinator (CEHD

Na’ama Gold – Executive Director, Mason Hillel

Nance Lucas – Executive Director, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being

Creston Lynch – Associate Dean (UL)

Holly Mason – Coordinator of Graduate Programs Admissions & Fiscal Management

Christy Pichichero – Associate Professor & Director of Faculty Diversity (CHSS)

Lauren Reuscher – Community Manager, University Information, (Communications)

Millie Rivera – Director of Faculty Diversity, Inclusion and Well-Being, (FA&D)

Kevin Rockmann – Professor of Management (Business)

Craig Sawyer – Director, Corley Institute for Diversity and Inclusion Education (Law)

Bethany Usher – Associate Professor for Undergraduate Education

Gerald Weatherspoon – Chair, Chemistry and Biology (COS)

Mariely Lopez-Santanna – Associate Professor (Schar)

Rachel Wernicke – Chief Mental Health Officer (UL)

Ayondela McDole – Graduate Student

Robyn Madar – Director, Organizational Development and Learning (HR)

Cynthia Fuchs – Interim Director, Film and Video Studies (CVPA)

Rebekah Hersch – Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation 

Emily Ihara – Associate Professor and Chair (CHSS)

Nena Rogers – Sr. Associate Director, Student Services (Athletics)

Tehama Lopez-Bunyasi – Assistant Professor (Carter School)

Lauren Cattaneo – Associate Professor (CHSS)

Gesele Durham – Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning

Bill Dracos – Associate Vice President for Business Services

Anti-Racism Inclusive Excellence Committees

Training & Development: The Training & Development committee’s charge is to enhance, develop, recommend, and integrate anti-racism and inclusive excellence training. Currently, implicit bias and anti-discrimination training occurs in various units within the university. This committee should work with the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, as well as University Life, to assist schools and units with tailored training and workshops to meet individualized needs.

Committee  Co-chairs:  

Christopher Carr - Chief Diversity Officer (VSE)

Robyn Madar - Director, Organizational Development and Learning (HR)

Charles Chavis - Asst. Professor of Conflict Resolution and History (Carter School)   

Committee Members 

Millie Rivera - Director of Faculty Diversity, Inclusion and Well-Being (FA&D)

Kyle Warfield- Equal Opportunity Specialist (CDE)

Khaseem Davis-Director, Early Identification Program (UL)

Julie Owen-Assoc. Professor, Leadership and Integrated Studies (CHSS)

Jennifer Shelton (alum)

Brandi Blake- Assistant Director, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education (staff)

Hamal Strayhorn - Director, Coalition Building and Diversity Education (UL)

Campus & Community Engagement: The Campus & Community Engagement committee is charged with developing, implementing, and supporting programs that promote access, diversity, equity, and inclusion through campus and community partnerships. This committee will establish guidance for engaging the university and broader communities in the ARIE work. Further, it will leverage Mason’s unique position in Northern Virginia and the National Capital Region to recommend and implement strategies that create long-term and sustainable change at Mason and our surrounding communities.

Committee Co-chairs

Creston Lynch-Associate Dean (UL) 

Elizabeth DeMulder- Professor and Academic Program Coordinator (CEHD

Nance Lucas- Executive Director, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being

Committee Members

Hansel Aguilar-Graduate Student (CHSS)

Jesse Guessford- Associate Director, Undergraduate Education 

Colby Grant- Operations Coordinator, SciTec (staff)

Michael Guston- Police LT., Police & Public Safety 

Kerin Hilker-Balkissoon- Director, Educational & Career Pathways (COS) 

Kimberly Holmes- Associate Dean for Student Affairs (CHHS) 

Sheherazade Jafari-Director, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Kristin Johnsen-Neshati- Associate Professor (CVPA) 

George Oberle - History Librarian (University Libraries) 

Lisa Snyder- Associate Director, Leadership Education and Development (UL)

Janae Johnson (alum)

Julie Choe Kim- Director, Graduate Student Life (UL)

Dann Sklarew- Director Sustainability Initiatives

University Policies and Practices: The university policies and practices committee is charged with identifying systemic inequities within Mason’s policies, practices, processes, and procedures to enable needed change. The committee will develop and implement an action plan for achieving meaningful, long-term structural change and accountability throughout the university community.

Committee Co-chairs 

Christy Pichichero - Associate Professor & Director of Faculty Diversity (CHSS)

Millie Rivera- Director of Faculty Diversity, Inclusion and Well-Being (FA&D)

Cheryl Druehl- Associate Dean of Faculty (Business)

Committee Members 

Juliet Blank Godlove- Dean of Students (UL)

Christopher Carr - Chief Diversity Officer (VSE)

Susan Hirsch- Professor (Carter)

Joshua Kinchen- Associate Director of LGBTQ+ Resources, ODIME (staff)

Michelle Lim- Assistant VP (HR)

Dan Taggert – Director, Human Resources and Employee Relations (COS)

Xiaomei Cao – (Faculty Senate rep)

Tiffany O’Neal- Assistive Technology Program Support Specialist (CDE)

Zavin Smith (alum)

Curriculum & Pedagogy: The curriculum and pedagogy committee is charged with recommending, helping to develop, and/or expanding current curriculum that prepare students to not only understand and address systemic racism and values a multi-cultural world, But also a curriculum that is in intentionally inclusive of the diverse scholars and voices that contribute to the academy.

Committee Co-chairs 

Lauren Cattaneo- Associate Professor (CHSS) 

Tehama Lopez-Bunyasi- Assistant Professor (Carter School)

Van Bailey- Assistant Dean, Director of Diversity and Inclusion (UL)

 Committee Members 

LaNitra Berger- Senior Director, Office of Fellowship (UG Ed);

LaTisha Elcock- Administrative Assistant, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities (staff)

Melissa Broeckelman-Post- Director, Basic Course/Faculty, Communication (CHSS)

Al Fuertes – Associate Professor (CHSS)

Mark Hopson- Director, African and African American Studies (CHSS) 

Shelley Reid- Director for Teaching Excellence (Stearns Center) 

Derek Sweetman- Graduate Student Lecturer (CHSS, Carter School)

Kristen Wright- Director of Civic Engagement (UG Ed)

Kelly Knight – Professor/STEM Accelerator (COS);

Student Voice: Students often experience racism and bigotry in the university setting differently than faculty and staff. While students will be included on the larger taskforce, the student voice committee will allow for more input from student leaders from across the university on the student experience and campus climate. Student voices will support and enhance the work of the ARIE and share the task force work with their constituencies. Additionally, the student voice committee will participate in a student engagement campaign and provide input into additional faculty/staff training beyond curriculum and pedagogy.

Committee Co-Chairs

Shelby Adams - President, Student Government (undergraduate student)

Rose Pascarell- Vice President, University Life

Committee Members

Austin A. Deray -Doctoral Candidate

Sharrell Hassell-Goodman -Doctoral Candidate

Joshua Miller- Undergraduate Student

Tamyra Washington – Undergraduate Student

Kat Trejo – Undergraduate Student

Avery Ransome – Undergraduate Student

James Condo- Vice President Pride Alliance

Deion Maith- President of Collegiate Black Men

Domonique Dowling- Vice President, NAACP

Nautia Smalls- Student Government

Yessica Tello- President, Hispanic Student Association

Justin Suegay - Former President-APAC

Paola Choque Villarroel- Hispanic Student Association

Research: The research committee will promote an inclusive community that advances the meaningful contributions of diverse perspectives and views to the research, scholarship and creative activities of the campus community. This committee will establish guidelines and work with colleges and schools to promote diversity and inclusion in all areas of research, scholarship and creative activities across campus. Additionally, they are charged with establishing programs, opportunities and formal mentorships to increase historically underrepresented candidates. Finally, the committee will look at Mason's engagement in innovation and economic development activities to ensure that inclusive excellence is core to the entrepreneurship and economic development activities.

Committee Chairs

Laurence Bray- Associate Provost for Graduate Education

Rebekah Hersch – Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation 

Committee  Members

Ben Carton- Associate Professor (CHSS) 

Toya Frank- Associate Professor (CEHD)

Rosemary Higgins- Associate Dean for Research (CHHS) 

John Hollis – Communications Officer (staff) 

Aditya Johri – Professor, Information Sciences & Technology (VSE) 

Jessica Kallista - Founder/Curator/Art Instigator (CVPA)

Jessica Rosenberg- Associate Professor (COS) 

Michele Schwietz - Associate Dean for Research (CHSS) 

Paula Sorrell - Associate Vice President, Office of Research

Bonnie Stabile - Research Associate Professor (Schar)