Hello Pratt Community,

This month, it gives me great pleasure to begin this newsletter by sending a series of congratulations and thank yous to members within our Pratt Community.

First of all, a big congratulations to all of our graduating students. We are so proud of your accomplishments and wish you all the best in your endeavors and new roles as Pratt alum.

Congratulations as well to the winners of the Pratt Faculty and Staff Awards - John Board, Catherine Brinson, Kip Coonley, Bridget Fletcher, Danielle Giles, Michael Gustafson, Cameron Kim and Amanda Randles.

Thank you to our DEIC Committee members who are rotating off from the committee. We have appreciated your valuable insight and commitment to improving our Pratt community. Also to our DEIC graduating students - Amanda Benton (MS), Shruthee Sankarlinkam (MEng), Andres Bernmudez (BSE, BME) and Ava Ganeshan (BSE, MEMS), we wish you success in the next steps of your journey.

Thank you to everyone who was able to participate in Academic Professionals Week. Grace Beason and I enjoyed planning the week, and would love any feedback that you have on how we can continue to improve your experience for future events focused on Pratt staff duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cNinJ5UvNu1W7Nc.

If you have questions or suggestions, please contact me.

Karis Boyd-Sinkler
Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Engineering

With the success of the DEIC Book Club’s in-person sessions, we would like to expand the concept with the the launch of Cultural Conversations! Cultural Conversations will explore multiple avenues by reading articles, short-stories and books along with watching documentaries, movies and television shows in hopes to better understand the complexity of community. We invite all who are interested to participate by signing up here. Cultural Conversations will primarily take place in person, and each session will be a stand-alone topic. We encourage all to participate as their schedules permit. By signing up you will receive more information. Feel free to contact Quiana Tyson at qmm@duke.edu if you have additional questions. 

The Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) recently published its 2021-2022 Annual Report. The OIE Annual Report provides information and data on the processing of complaints of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and retaliation as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion educational engagements. The report is an important step in OIE’s ongoing journey to increase transparency and build trust with the university and health system communities. A key goal of the report is to demonstrate what OIE hopes is useful information on the path of complaints, by showing what kinds of information is reported, how each matter is addressed, and ultimately the kinds of sanctions that are imposed in cases where a violation is found or otherwise warranted.

View the report »

The Apple Pathways Academy is a community of learning and discovery targeting high-performing Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous sophomores majoring in computer science and engineering.

View more information and apply »

The vision of the Maclin Fund is that no eligible Pratt School of Engineering undergraduate should miss out on educational growth because of costs not covered by financial aid. Costs such as attending a conference, flying to an interview, taking a workshop or repairing a computer—to name only a few. The fund was created through the generosity of Valecia Maclin E’92.

View more information and apply »

The WIN Empowerment Fund was created through the generosity of the Pratt School of Engineering group within the Duke Women's Impact Network (WIN), whose mission is to encourage leadership and philanthropy among women and the friends of WIN. The WIN Empowerment Fund makes direct and positive impacts on the lives of financial-aid-receiving students by helping meet those expenses—such as graduate exam and application fees or professional attire.

View more information and apply »

Tuesday, May 30 | 3:00 pm ET | Karis's Zoom Room

We will go over a video created by Duke’s Office for Institutional Equity, which provides a concise and clear understanding, through a bite-sized piece of media, of how to report discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct concerns, what happens once issues are raised, and resources for support and prevention during the process.

Watch the video »

See more at pratt.duke.edu/about/diversity/resources#events

Tuesday, May 9
10:00-11:30 am | Duke U Press Lib, 905 W. Main St. Ste. 20-C

Hosted by the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE)

Monday, May 15
10:00 am-12:00 pm | Trent Semans Center for Health Education - Great Hall

Hosted by the BioCoRE, School of Medicine (SOM)

May 15-20
11:30 am-1:30 pm | DuWell

Hosted by BioCoRE, School of Medicine (SOM)

Wednesday, May 17
12:00-1:00 pm | Virtual

Hosted by Duke Palliative Care

Saturday, May 20
8:00 am-12:00 pm | East Campus

Hosted by BioCoRE, School of Medicine (SOM)

Saturday, May 20
8:30 am-2:30 pm | Fitzpatrick CIEMAS Atrium

Hosted by the Pratt School of Engineering

Highlighted below is a non-exhaustive list of holidays, celebrations, and events. Would you like to have a holiday listed? Please contact us with your suggestion!

A month dedicated to celebrating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States and their contributions.

A month dedicated to raising awareness of and reducing the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues.

Beginning as a commemoration of a Mexican army victory during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862, the day has also become a celebration of Mexican-American culture observed in the United States.

An observance created by the United Nations General Assembly to affirm culture’s contribution to the three dimensions of sustainable development, acknowledging further the natural and cultural diversity of the world, and recognizing that cultures and civilizations can contribute to, and are crucial enablers of, sustainable development.

A national, state and Duke holiday, set since 1971 as the last Monday in May. The day honors all those who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Schools, governments and workplaces are closed. Community ceremonies are traditionally held before noon, with the rest of the day given over to outdoor gatherings and meals with family and friends.

Director of Diversity & Inclusion in Engineering

karis.boydsinkler@duke.edu

office hours

Members of the Pratt DEIC committee are listed at pratt.duke.edu/about/diversity/deic