Newsletter 

Dear Jayhawk Community, 

It is essential to acknowledge the challenges we have faced this year together. From federal and state anti-DEI and anti-LBGTQIA+ legislation to navigating record levels of antisemitism and Islamophobia, we have weathered a broad spectrum of civil rights related challenges together. Despite these divisive debates, our DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) team and community partners have worked tirelessly to foster inclusivity and belonging on our campus for all students, staff, and faculty. We are committed to having transparent conversations about what it means to be a research university whose mission is “to educate leaders, build healthy communities and make discoveries that change the world.” To build healthy communities where students, staff, and faculty can thrive, innovate, and become leaders of change, we must uphold our commitment to curating an educational environment that is inclusive for all. 

As we reflect on our progress this year, let us recognize the importance of our collective efforts in working to redefine a campus where everyone feels valued and respected. No matter what your political affiliation, social identity and/or nationality, KU strives to be a campus community that reflects the complexity and diversity of the world. We believe that every Jayhawk that studies, works, visits, and supports KU deserves to have an amazing experience on our campus. We will uphold the university’s promise to “first serve Kansas, then the nation, and the world through research, teaching, and the preservation and dissemination of knowledge.” 

Belonging on a 21st century research university campus should entail uplifting and educating our campus through programs, courses, events and engaged learning experiences that focus on academic and creative excellence produced by our transnational community of students, staff, faculty, affiliates, and administrators. The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging supports academic and creative freedom on our campus for all, while offering opportunities to serve our community through engaged educational and social community building experiences. From educating our Jayhawk community about Native sovereignty with our Sovereignty Speaker Series to supporting the Spencer Museum’s “Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See” exhibit to co-sponsoring Slavic, German, and Eurasian Studies’ guest speaker Nadya Tolokonnikova, a global feminist icon, we strive to bring campus the most thought-provoking and engaged learning experiences that inspire deep reflection about humanity, civil rights, and equity for all.  

As we prepare for the end of the semester, let us reflect on the action steps we can engage in personally and collectively to inspire each Jayhawk to be a part of making KU a welcoming and inviting campus for all:  

Education and Awareness: Stay informed about current events and their impact on our community. Attend workshops, lectures, and discussions via our events page. Learn about the RISE Toolbox that offers resources to help all Jayhawks be change makers. Spread the word about our campus newsletter by sharing our link and encouraging others to subscribe.

Advocacy: Advocate for policies and practices on campus and in your departmental, local, regional, and national sphere of influence that promote equitable campus conditions for all. Use your voice to challenge discriminatory actions per federal and state law. If you see something, per the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX, “whether against you or someone else, report incidents of sexual misconduct, discrimination, harassment, dating/domestic violence, stalking or retaliation.”

Community Building: Foster a sense of belonging by actively engaging with community groups on campus. Participate in student, staff, and faculty organizations, and cultural events.

Support: Listen actively, provide resources, and stand in solidarity with individuals and communities that may be differentially impacted by structural inequities. For support, see our student, staff, and faculty support pathways here.

Let us continue to reimagine what belonging looks like for all members of our campus community. By working together, we can create a campus where everyone feels valued and respected as integral parts of the Jayhawk community. 

Best, 

Nicole Hodges Persley 

Vice Provost of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging  

In honor of Women’s History Month, DEIB recognized a few amazing Jayhawks on our social media. Learn more about their accomplishments below:

Dr. Hui Cai

Professor and the Chair of the Department of Architecture and Director of Research at the Institute of Health and Wellness Design

Callie Long

Interim Vice Provost for Operations 

Lauren Jones McKown, JD

Associate Vice Chancellor for Civil Rights & Title IX Coordinator 

Dr. Rana Esfandiary

Assistant Professor of Design & Technology

Sidney Zavala

Assistant Director for Community Engagement Initiatives

On Monday, March 24th, the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity hosted KU’s annual February Sisters lecture in honor of Women’s History Month. Guest speaker Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly presented “Against Triple Oppression: Black Women, Radicalism, and Resistance,” a discussion about radical Black women in the mid-century United States, the oppression they faced, and the impact they have made today.

Dr. Burden-Stelly, a scholar of critical Black studies, political theory, political economy, and intellectual history, is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University. She is a 2023-2024 Charles Warren Center Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and she is a member of the Black Alliance for Peace. Burden-Stelly has held fellowships at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign, and Amherst College. Some of her writing includes:

This lecture series honors the February Sisters, who originally formed in February of 1972, as 30 women from KU faculty and staff occupied the East Asian Languages building to protest the gender and minority-based discrimination in  campus policy. A few examples of their contributions to campus include:

Learn more about the February Sisters here. 

On Wednesday, March 20th, The Office of DEIB, with support from Jewish Faculty Staff Council, hosted our second antisemitism training, “Interrupting Antisemitism and Building Inclusive Communities.” This training was facilitated by Jonah Boyarin, author of New York City’s first official training on antisemitism, which then went on to also serve as a model for President Joe Biden's U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. This training offered attendees an opportunity to learn about the history of antisemitism, what steps we can take to interrupt antisemitism in the present, and how we can work to build a more inclusive future.  

DEIB will continue to offer antisemitism trainings, with more in-depth training modules this coming Fall and self-led training modules available via our DEIB Campus Toolbox in the future. Follow us on Instagram for upcoming training announcements and visit our website to sign up.

Campus Cupboard is a food pantry that reduces food insecurities for those within the KU community, including students, staff, faculty, and affiliates. It is located on level 4 of the Kansas Memorial Union, in Suite 400. 

For the past two years, DEIB has supported the Campus Cupboard through regular donations of diverse hygiene care and dietary items that can often be difficult to obtain. Our most recent donation included culturally familiar and comforting foods for Muslim students, staff, faculty, and affiliates observing Ramadan and celebrating Eid.

Below is a list of items to consider donating to the Campus Cupboard;

The University of Kansas is home to an extremely diverse population of students, staff, faculty, and affiliates. Economic barriers and food insecurities affect all populations within the KU community.  However, the diversity of dietary and hygiene needs is not always accounted for when donations are made to organizations like the Campus Cupboard. Donating these items provides people within these cultural, religious, and ethnic communities a sense of belonging and comfort and aims to communicate that they are welcome at KU.

On April 16th, well-known journalist and popular TikToker, Erin Reed, from ErinInTheMorning.com, visited the University of Kansas. In co-sponsorship with the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging provided a space for students, staff, faculty, and Lawrence community members to learn about the history of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and current bills in the United States.

Before the keynote speech, the Office of DEIB hosted a meet and greet so that Erin could connect directly with Lawrence and KU community members. This space provided an intimate environment for attendees to get to speak with Erin Reed about issues they are facing personally and within the state of Kansas. As attendees shared their stories during the group discussion, Erin Reed was able to offer advice and share insights from her experience. Attendees were very happy to have met someone they follow and look to for matters concerning anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Between both the meet and greet and the keynote, Erin spoke to 100+ people and even stayed behind after the Q&A to take selfies and speak one-on-one with attendees.

The United States recognizes April as Arab American Heritage Month; this recognition formally began in 2021, following years of advocacy from Arab American communities. Arab Americans have been present in the U.S. since as early as the 1880s, and today’s Arab American community spans over 22 countries and nation-states.  

Arab Americans originate from the geographical locations of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). According to the 2020 U.S. Census, there are 3.5 million Arab Americans residing in the United States. The 2020 Census was the first-time data collection included categories for Middle East- North African (MENA) identifying people. Prior to 2020, many MENA folks had to select ‘White,’ and in 2020 they were still required to select White, which was followed with the opportunity to 'write-in response' MENA categories. 

This Arab American Heritage Month, the Office of DEIB celebrated Eid with Muslim Jayhawks. ‘Eid’ means ‘holiday’ in Arabic. Eid al-Fitr ends the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan and means the ‘feast of breaking the fast.’ KU African and African-American Studies hosted the ‘Eid and Beyond Event,’ a table open to anyone in the Jayhawk community wanting to learn more about Ramadan, Eid, and beyond. Eid is traditionally celebrated by Muslims with a large gathering for morning prayer, dressing in their finest garments, community celebrations, and eating lots of delicious food during daytime hours.  

DEIB hosted an Islamophobia Training webinar on April 24th, in collaboration with the Council on American-Islamic Relations Kansas Chapter (CAIR). Facilitators Corey Saylor, CAIR Research and Advocacy Director, Farah Afify, CAIR Research and Advocacy Coordinator, and Moussa Elbayoumy, Chairman of CAIR-Kansas, provided valuable training to the campus community in our efforts to increase campus literacy about Islamophobia nationally. Chairman Elbayoumy opened the training by quoting MLK Jr.;

Topics featured in the Islamophobia training included: case studies involving Islamophobia, demographics of diverse Muslim communities, and societal contributions of Muslims in America. The facilitators offered foundational information about Islamophobia and its impact on campus efforts to create inclusive experiences for Muslim identified students, staff, and faculty. DEIB will continue to host Islamophobia training annually and will include a self-led training in our campus toolbox in the fall.

The Repatriation Education Series added another installment this month with a presentation from Tom Torma, Repatriation Program Manager, on March 19th. The series began in Fall 2022 after the redisclosure of Native American ancestors, funerary and sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony in KU museums’ collections. As part DEIB’s commitment to community care, the series was developed to provide a deeper understanding of the various aspects of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), emphasizing the important role of tribes and culturally significant aspects of the repatriation process.

Torma’s talk focused on one important aspect of the repatriation process: tribal consultations. Speaking about his approach to NAGPRA from a human rights perspective, Torma shared:

The presentation also defined consultations, highlighting that this important part of the repatriation process allows him to “enable meaningful consideration of the Native American traditional knowledge...” including oral traditions. In addition to Torma’s step-by-step exploration of the tribal consultation process, he also discussed duty of care, tribal sovereignty in practice, and best practices for repatriation. Due to confidentiality expectations of NAGPRA law, Torma is not able to talk about consultations or address issues related to specific tribes.

A recording of the presentation can be viewed on the KU repatriation website, along with other educational and community care resources.

The 35th annual KU FNSA Powwow and 7th annual Indigenous Cultures Festival was held at the Lied Center of Kansas on April 13th, bringing together the local Native community and attendees from Lawrence and the surrounding region. 

The Powwow Committee worked with eXplore Lawrence last year, collecting data using AI tools; according to the data, there were an estimated 7,000 attendees at the 2023 event. In reference to the 2024 event, Lori Hasselman, KU FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival Planning Committee, said, “It really felt like we had more people came out this year, so I’m excited to see what the estimates look like."

The highlight of the event was the newly sodded KU Powwow Grounds just east of the Lied Center parking lot, an initiative that had been in the making for several years, led by Melissa Peterson and the KU FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival Planning Committee.

Lights were also added to this year’s event at the Powwow Grounds to allow dancers time to finish contests and to announce winners without rushing to get done before dark. Also new to this year’s event was the presence of the Good Morning Indian Country team, which recorded on-site interviews and dances that were posted to their social media accounts during the Powwow. 

“I appreciate the commitment from our Provost and the investment from the KU Operations team to bring Powwow Grounds to KU. Thank you to the Lied Center for providing lights to allow the Powwow to go into the night,” said Peterson. "Our priority was our dancers, and I’m proud of the turnout. It was a great day for the community.”

The Indigenous Cultures Festival hosted the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and other new educational programs, including an interactive Choctaw Stickball presentation, a pine needle basket workshop, and two panels discussing screenwriting and Native fashion. Steven Grounds, Creek/Yuchi/Seminole artist, also unveiled three murals of local Osage educators that can be viewed near the ticket office entrance of the Lied Center. Attendees also enjoyed Native food and arts and crafts from over 50 vendors at the event.

Save the Date: Next Year’s KU FNSA Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival is scheduled for April 12, 2025. 

All included photos from the 2024 KU FNSA Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival were taken by Laura Kingston.

Kaitlin Reed, author of Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California, spoke on April 17th at the Cider Gallery as a part of the ongoing Tribal Sovereignty Series. Reed is from the Yurok Indian Reservation and discussed the impacts of unregulated cannabis production practices on her Yurok homelands. Her talk made connections between the history of settler colonial resource extraction and the rush for gold, timber, and now cannabis that contributes to the depletion of Yurok water, among many other environmental issues compromising tribal sovereignty. Reed is Yurok, Hopa, and Oneida and is an assistant professor in Native American Studies at Humbolt State University in Arcata, California. She was introduced by colleague and friend, Dr. Melinda Adams, KU Assistant Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Science and Indigenous Studies. The event was hosted in collaboration with The Commons and included Reed speaking at Haskell Indian Nations University the following day.

The “Brown v. Board at 70: Looking Back and Striving Forward” conference, hosted by the National Park Services and the University of Kansas, took place Thursday, April 18th, and Friday, April 19th. DEIB Team members Fernanda Lopez, Program Coordinator, and Addison Keegan-Harris, Director of Strategic Initiatives, both served on the conference planning committee. Thursday night included opening remarks given by Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, and opening address by Charise Cheney, Associate Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon, who grew up in Topeka; the address focused on her book coming out in November of 2024 titled, “Blacks against Brown: The Intra-racial Struggle over Segregated Schools in Topeka, Kansas.” The conference on Friday opened with breakfast and an address from Provost Dr. Barbara Bichelmeyer, followed by an Education Panel, Legal Panel, Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women’s Leadership Lecture Keynote Address given by Sherrilyn Ifill of Howard University, and History Panel. Friday afternoon, following presentations, conference attendees gathered in buses and journeyed to the Brown v. Board National Park in Topeka, Kansas.

Below is a series of photos that capture the conference experience.

May 4, 2024: APIDA Heritage Month Picnic with Asian and Asian American Faculty Staff Council 

Time: 12:00-3:00 P.M. 

Location: Holcolm Park Gazebo: 2700 W 27th St. Lawrence, KS 66047

If weather causes this event to move location, details can be found here

All Jayhawks are invited to join AAAFSC and the Office of DEIB at this year’s BELONGING @ KU: APIDA Picnic! Join us for community celebration and fun – families are welcome, food and beverages will be provided.   

 

June 15, 2024: Celebrate Juneteenth  

Time: 7:30 P.M. 

Location: Lied Center of Kansas 1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA 

Stage play Presented By LRM Foundation and the Lied Center Of Kansas. “Riches and Rags: The Raiment of Our Journey,” written and directed by Rita Rials, this play showcases artistry and demonstrates the journey and progression of African American heritage as it relates to clothing and fashion. It is a unique opportunity to “experience the historical relevance of clothing and its impact on cultivating belongingness, unity, and expression in African American Culture.” Visit the website for more information. Event is free and open to the public. 

 

June 25, 2024: “Math in Drag” with Kyne Santons  

Time: 12:00 - 1:30 P.M.

Webinar: https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/98102400364?pwd=VzQ4d0k3UXErck9BVGNZTEFQWVdUUT09

Passcode: 409344

Join sensational drag queen Kyne Santos on a fascinating journey through the glamorous world of . . . math? This hilarious and sometimes controversial book is your VIP pass, taking you behind the scenes with a TikTok superstar who shatters stereotypes and proves that math can be sassy and fun, even for people who think they aren't good at it. Math in Drag explores a world in which numbers glitter and equations sashay through history. Read it to fire your own excitement and unleash your inner diva. Let Kyne Santos show you how to perform math with style and flair! Published on March 5, 2024. ISBN: 978-14214487 

The Office of DEIB is committed to regularly providing Jayhawks with DEIB updates from across our institution. By self-selecting to receive emails, you can expect DEIB newsletters in   

Fall Semester: July/August, September/October, November/December    

Spring Semester: January/February, March/April, May/June

Click here to view previous DEIB Newsletters

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