W. 7th/Keystone Community Center
Annual summer event at Keystone Community Center with chemistry demos and activities for K-8 students. Several chemistry outreach studies have been published based activities developed for W. 7th/Keystone.
Prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The land we work on is the original homelands of Wahpekute, Anishinabewaki, and Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux) Nations. We honor and respect the Indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed from, and who are still connected to this territory. It is our responsibility to own our part in their continued displacement, incorporate Indigenous knowledge in our work, and establish meaningful, reciprocal partnerships with Indigeous communities.1
We take this opportunity to commit ourselves to the fight against the systems of oppression that have dispossessed Indigenous people of their lands and denied their rights to self-determination, work that is essential to human rights work across the world.2
We are committed to advocating for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), DREAMers, immigrants, international students and scholars, women, LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, first-generation college students, and people from low socioeconomic statuses and disadvantaged backgrounds, and at the intersection of these and all other underrepresented identities.
We recognize that our group is inherently and implicitly biased and that the academic system is racist and biased against underrepresented groups. We acknowledge that we will often fail while fighting these oppressive systems, but we commit to doing our best and will not give up. We will challenge ourselves and others to overcome these biases to foster an inclusive and welcoming culture in academia and beyond.
The actions we will take:
- Working to dismantle white supremacy culture in higher education, in our everyday lives, and beyond
- Continuing education within our group and the spaces we are a part of, where the responsibility should not fall on our marginalized members to educate
- Specifically speaking out against anti-Black racism at all times
- Performing outreach with the greater community
- Calling for the hiring, recruitment and retention of BIPOC to our department and university
- Acknowledging, citing, and appreciating the work, both service and scientific, done by our marginalized communities
- Such as by leveraging our leadership positions:
- To advocate for and promote the work of BIPOC scientists and innovators
- To push for more diversity, inclusion, and justice
- To invite seminar speakers of various backgrounds, career stages, and research interests
1. Dr. Cori Bazemore-James
2. Activism Skills: Land and Territory Acknowledgment. https://www.amnesty.ca/blog/activism-skills-land-and-territory-acknowledgement
