Newsletter 

Dear Jayhawk Community, 

We are midway through summer, and I hope that this email finds you well. We wish our graduates one more heartfelt congratulations and a peaceful time of reflection, rejuvenation, and productivity for all. In this month’s newsletter, we share positive reflections on campus work to support structural, programmatic, and outreach initiatives that advance campus goals of belonging for all Jayhawks. As a reminder, the Office of DEIB helps to address campus climate and culture in the following forms of support: 

We encourage you to include a DEIB newsletter sign-up link and a RISE toolbox link in your student, staff, and faculty emails and social outreach for summer and fall so that all Jayhawks can learn how they can contribute to a community of care at KU.  

Stay tuned for information from the Provost via email in the days to come regarding the new state law, HB 2105, which goes into effect on July 1, 2024. We will be working with the Provost to provide support and guidance for academic, affiliate, and administrative units on compliance with this new state law. We will be working to ensure that our campus continues its commitment to facilitating a culture of safety and belonging for all Jayhawks per our IRISE Cultural Charter, which was developed with representatives across campus and written by our immediate past President of University Governance, Ani Kokobobo. We wish you a productive and restful summer break, and we look forward to working with you in the next academic year.  

 

Best, 

Nicole Hodges Persley 

Vice Provost of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging  

On April 30th, members of the DEIB team attended the Lavender Celebration, hosted by the Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity (SGD), to celebrate graduating members of the KU queer and trans communities. At the event, DEIB was honored with the “Friends of The Center” Pride Award. SGD established the Pride Awards to recognize the achievements of KU students, staff, faculty, and campus units that prioritize queer and trans individuals and topics through community service, research advancements, and other varied endeavors. While presenting the award, Cori Deming, SDG’s Program Coordinator for Signature Events & Student Support, said,  

“…DEIB has been a supporter of SGD, demonstrating a strong commitment as a campus partner. Their team has contributed to SGD's initiatives and events. They have contributed substantial funding to facilitate SGD's endeavors. Furthermore, their assistance extends to impromptu programming, where they have provided additional funding, care, and staff support.” 

We are proud to announce that there are now over 180 all gender restrooms across KU campuses. We want to extend our sincerest thanks to our partners in the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, Facilities Services, and Operations, for their invaluable contributions in making this achievement possible. 

This summer, while many areas across campuses are under construction, you may notice more changes and additions to our All Gender Restroom, Reflection Room, and Lactation Room Campus Map located on our website. We are working hard to ensure that the map will be updated and precise before the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, and we encourage you to share it with new and returning students, staff, and faculty.  

Additionally, if there are buildings on campus that do not have an all gender restroom that you would like to see added, please fill out this form on our website to submit a request to have it added to the list of locations for consideration. Some buildings may be too old to renovate, but the Operations and Facilities teams are working hard to find solutions. Your input will help us identify needed locations and focus our efforts. 

As we prepare for the upcoming fall semester, the Office of DEIB would like to encourage community members to explore strategies for creating more inclusive events. The following tips will help to cultivate a culture of belonging, especially in event planning:

 These are just a few ways to proactively prioritize inclusivity in your sphere of influence at KU. If you have follow-up questions, email the Office of DEIB at diversity@ku.edu. 

In collaboration with the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, upon arriving at KU or when needing a replacement, students, staff, and faculty are now able to get a KU Campus ID Card using their chosen/lived name (referred to in the policy library as 'preferred name') instead of their legal first name. 

Students, staff, and faculty can utilize this webpage to request a replacement card for gender affirmation reasons, such as updating a name or photo that more accurately reflects their identity. Currently, there is not a streamlined process for gender affirmation across all campus systems, but this webpage provides a list of other gender affirming updates that can be made. If students cannot afford to update their KU ID, they can apply to receive financial support from the Student Senate. For more information on financial support, visit this link. If staff or faculty need financial support to replace their KU ID, the process is the same as the student process, and the funding can be requested from the Office of DEIB.  

Please consider including this resource in your syllabi, welcome back email, or August newsletter. If you have questions or concerns, please contact diversity@ku.edu. 

May is observed as Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month. This observance began in 1992 and was established in May to coincide with two significant historical events: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States and the contributions of Chinese workers to the transcontinental railroad. In 2010, the term APIDA replaced AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) to be more inclusive of South Asians.

This year, the Office of DEIB partnered with the Asian and Asian-American Faculty and Staff Council (AAAFSC) to host the Second Annual AAAFSC APIDA Picnic. This year’s picnic was a Belonging @ KU event and offered an opportunity for all Jayhawks to attend and celebrate APIDA Heritage Month. KU community members of all identities attended the picnic at the Lawrence Community Building, where they gathered for fun, food, and karaoke. Attendees sampled foods from various local Lawrence pan-Asian restaurants including places like Zoe’s Noodle House, Thai Diner, Bubble Box Tea, and Globe Indian.  

APIDA Heritage Month offers us the chance to explore the diverse and vibrant history, art, films, and cuisine of APIDA cultures. It is an opportunity to recognize the significant impact APIDA individuals have had on shaping American history and culture. If you could not make it to the picnic, or even if you did, consider supporting local APIDA-owned businesses and visiting museums that celebrate these remarkable communities and individuals.  

In addition to being APIDA Heritage Month, May is also Jewish American Heritage Month. In 2004, the United States commemorated 350 Years of Jewish American History and in 2006, the month of May was designated as Jewish American Heritage Month. This year, we celebrate the 370th anniversary and all that Americans of Jewish heritage have contributed to the United States's history and culture. If you are interested in reading more about different exhibits, events, and celebrations throughout the United States, please visit the Jewish American Heritage Month Website. The Library of Congress also provides commemorative observation guides for further information. 

Through the past academic year, the Office of DEIB collaborated with Jayhawks and external partners to celebrate our Jewish community members. This year's events include working with Chabad of KU to provide kosher food at our DEIB Tailgate and hosting the educational opportunity “Interrupting Antisemitism and Building Inclusive Communities” with Jonah Boyarin. This was the second time we invited Jonah to provide training for campus and we look forward to offering more opportunities in the upcoming academic year.

In the past several months, we have highlighted Purim and Passover on our Instagram by sharing ways to celebrate and observe these holidays. This fall, Jewish Jayhawks will observe several important religious holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and more. If you are planning events, programs, or classroom activities, please remember to visit the Religious Observances Calendar for recommendations on religious accommodations. By being mindful to avoid scheduling in conflict with major spiritual holidays, we can ensure that students, staff, and faculty are able to participate in university activities. If you are a Jayhawk requesting religious accommodations, you can fill out this form located on our website.  

Established on May 28, 2014 and honored annually since, Menstrual Hygiene Day highlights how societal, cultural, and economic limitations impact folks who menstruate, and how individuals and groups all over the world from diverse backgrounds and identities are working towards equity to remove these limitations.

Accessing menstrual hygiene items is a challenge for many due to period poverty. According to the National Library of Medicine, period poverty is a term used to represent the “lack of accessibility or affordability of menstrual hygiene tools and educational material, such as sanitary products, washing facilities, and waste management.” In 2024, periods are also still extremely stigmatized. Kate Cartagena, a youth organizing program manager in the first-ever National Period Day campaign, shares, “Because of this stigma, far too many people are currently experiencing period poverty or struggle to afford period products.” The challenges of period inequity and even preparedness for one’s period are issues that affect the KU community, too. 

PERIOD is an initiative that provides free menstrual products to the campus community; it began as a student-initiated project in 2018-2019 and was brought to life by Student Affairs and partner offices. The program is housed in the Health Education Resource Office (HERO), and it offers disposable period products in over twenty campus buildings. Reusable menstrual products can also be picked up from the Campus Cupboard in the Kansas Union or the Health Education Resource Office in Watkins Health Center. 

For the second year, the Office of DEIB has supported PERIOD in purchasing reusable period products. The program helps campus realize intersectional standards of excellence, assure retention and completion through student engagement and satisfaction as well as cultivate healthy and vibrant communities. 

The above graphic was provided by HERO, the information included can be found on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, to learn more visit the following link.  

Juneteenth commemorates when enslaved individuals in Galveston, TX, learned of the end of the war and the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years after the announcement. Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday in 2021, and on October 10, 2023, Governor Laura Kelly designated it a Kansas state holiday. This year was the first time University employees experienced Juneteenth as a paid day off. 

Many African Americans celebrated Juneteenth for generations before it became a federally recognized holiday. This year, the Office of DEIB commemorated Juneteenth by creating a video series of an interview with Deborah Dandridge, Associate Librarian; Field Archivist, and Curator of African American Experience Collections, at the University of Kansas. You can watch the full six-minute video, “Honoring Freedom: an Interview with Deborah Dandridge,” on our website or follow us on Instagram to view and share Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.  

We would like to express our immense gratitude to Deborah Dandridge for generously providing our campus with this insightful interview. 

June is Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community and raising awareness of the ongoing pursuit of equal rights and protections under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities. June is marked in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan that served as a huge turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. 

For Pride Month, the Office of DEIB partnered with KUMC (KU Med Center) to host "Math in Drag" by Kyne Santos on June 25th. Kyne Santos is a famous math-teaching drag queen. She has competed on the first season of Canada’s Drag Race and was named TikTok API Trailblazer and Forbes 30 Under 30. She is currently on tour for her book, “Math in Drag.”  

Her keynote presentation consisted of Kyne sharing her story of coming out as a young gay boy in a conservative household, excelling in math at school, and being a makeup star on the internet, all of which led to her rise to becoming a famous math-teaching drag queen.  

“Math in Drag” encouraged the audience to draw from the queer experience to embrace the creative process in math. Kyne noted, “Pride started out as a protest,” and, “Our definition of ‘number’ has changed just like our definition of ‘gender.’” She emphasized that the constraints faced by both mathematicians and queer people have fostered creative problem-solving, stating, “We both break the rules.” By highlighting the parallels between math and the queer experience, Kyne’s presentation tied together themes of creativity and persistence.  

The Office of DEIB is grateful to partner with KUMC to offer this event in celebration of Pride Month.  

The Michael Tilford Conference, hosted annually by the Kansas Board of Regents, “provides an opportunity for those involved in education, in collaboration with community business leaders, to examine diversity in education and business by discussing the challenges and opportunities.” The conference goals include: 

This 2024 conference theme is "The Harmony of Uniqueness: Advancing Higher Education through Prioritizing Multicultural Innovation and Community Engagement.” It is being hosted at Wichita State University on October 3rd and 4th. The conference program committee is seeking session proposals. Proposals can include individual papers, student papers, posters, panel discussions, or workshops. Consider the following conference goals, set by the Kansas Board of Regents, to guide your proposal.

The KU Office of DEIB strongly encourages our colleagues to consider submitting a proposal to share our community's excellent work on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Proposals will be accepted until August 30, 2024, at 5:00 pm. For more information and to apply, please visit the Tilford Call for Proposals webpage. 

For more details on attending the conference, please visit the host's webpage. 

The Office of DEIB is committed to regularly providing Jayhawks with DEIB updates from across our institution.

Click here to view previous DEIB Newsletters

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and are the Title IX coordinators for their respective campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses); Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).

The University of Kansas is a public institution governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.