Welcome to the University of Oregon’s College of Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (COEDEI) website.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is advisory to the Dean of the College of Education. This committee is charged with developing and supporting an action-oriented equity framework that supports and mobilizes expertise in the college community towards improving the climate for all and ensuring that students, faculty, and staff from typically underrepresented populations have access to supports, mentorship, and advocacy that is free from discrimination.

In 2024 the College of Education’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee is committed to continuing to advance the priorities identified in its first years of formal Operations within the COE. As we continue this work into the new year, with a new team, multiple transitions, and with the experiences of the past three years under our belts, we will be streamlining our ongoing activities to center community.

A letter from Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann, PhD, Assistant Dean for Administration, Equity and Inclusion, College of Education 2023 – 2024

Dear COE Community,

A lot has happened in very few years. In my conversations with individuals across campus, the general consensus around “engaging in DEI activities at an institutional level” returns to evolution, change, and a constant search for traction. Each unit has a unique story about their ongoing and ever-changing journey towards that ideal moment where their community is rich in diversity of identity and thought, celebrates diversity in authentic ways, provides or contributes to positive, equitable social and professional experiences and outcomes for its members, and is finally prepared to authentically step in and respond to the real needs of the community-members that their disciplines serve. Ours has been no different. While I am now in a better position to analyze our own journey over the past few years, I welcome that discussion with anyone who is interested in that analysis, but for today, I wanted to offer a few words about our forward focused plans.

In the 2023 – 2024 school year, the College of Education’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee will be prioritizing community-building and transparency as a means of advancing the committee’s mission towards continuously improving the climate of the college.

Community-building:

In focusing on community, we see opportunities to act on issues related to access as well as on turning our attention to joy and the celebration of the differences and similarities among us.

We recognize that there are many ways to define community. Among the many definitions of community, we know a person may be born into community, located in a community, assimilated into a community by proximity and practice, may be united in community by some common facet of their identity or culture, or they may self-select into a professional community by choosing to live, work, and/or play among individuals who share a common cause.

Given this wide array of options, in a professional and academic community like the College of Education, our first objective is to acknowledge and celebrate the fact that each of our community members comes with one (or more!) personal communities that they identify with in addition to their COE community. Our second objective is to create and establish a community within the COE that has habits, choices, and decision-points that define this community while still connecting with the different parts that comprise it. Importantly though, in our interest in ensuring that our many differences are celebrated, we remain committed to also balancing the recognition and celebration of those attributes and experiences we have in common.

Speaking of community and transparency, I’d like to define my thoughts about community in the College of Education. When I think about “community” in the College of Education here are some things that come to mind.

• The feeling you get when you meet a COE colleague at an out-of-town conference.
• Faculty and Staff meetings.
• Community listening sessions.
• Student groups (impromptu and formal).
• “I’ll be waiting in the courtyard by the lady-with-the-shawl-statue”.
• The mixed feelings about meetings in the CSB.
• Cross-program and cross-department friendships and collaborations.
• Week of welcome lunch in the courtyard.
• Donuts-for-Ducks out of the blue.
• The smell of coffee in the HEDCO lobby.
• Seeing people meeting by the fireplace.
• The clinic parachute play.
• Little red schoolhouse.
• I’ll send you my zoom room!
• The buildings (Lokey buildings, HEDCO, the Educational Annex (Little Red Schoolhouse), and the Clinical Services Building).
• QuackBack messages.
• Our mutual and shared outrage at issues of social division, tragedy, and injustice.
• A shared desire towards social justice, anti-racism, and identifying opportunities for systemic change.
• A shared desire to see and be seen for identity traits beyond the stereotypical and superficial.
• Colleagues with quirks we know, love (or grow to love).
• Opportunities to provide feedback.
• Opportunities to meet people who have the same curiosity and questions that we do (research).
• Opportunities to meet people who have the same desires that we do (professional goals to support and provide service to specific communities and communities in general).

None of these things that we are, do, or share, is unique to us, but combined in various configurations, our shared combination of experiences, locations, opportunities, habits, routines and even sentiment (whether of appreciation or dread) create a new thing that we want to sustain, grow, enjoy, and improve. Uniquely ours and ever-improving.

Transparency:

My hope is that by slowing down and being specific about the intended meaning of our words (like “community” and other terms we use frequently or infrequently but seldom define), we serve to invite more people into the conversations we have in higher education and by doing so enrich our shared understanding of topics that might become obscured by time, overuse, or even misuse.

 Transparency may not be the first word that comes to mind for most when defining actions towards ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion, but transparency plays a critical role, especially in a professional community like ours. In our recent community discussions as we spoke to individuals to find out what day to day actions could improve their experiences, we found that transparency in what we do, and why was a critical recurring theme. Individuals shared that many professional activities while common, were not sufficiently explained or defined, and that those gaps in definition had the power to leave new individuals and/or historically marginalized individuals feeling unincluded or uncertain in situations where others seemed to be thriving.

Providing access to experiences and opportunities through transparency is an important first step in all that we do. In bringing intentional transparency to our day-to-day work, we provide opportunities for individuals to understand the genesis and reason for what we do or expect, and thereby be more intentional about how to situate themselves or respond in that experience.

For 2023-2024 I expect our typical fair share of tragic news, political churn, social outrage, and personal experiences to position ourselves within. Those are likely (even inevitable), but I am simultaneously optimistic about our ongoing work. I look forward to continuously improving our community experience and our goals towards diversity, equity, and inclusion (access, justice, and community engagement), by enriching the transparency of shared norms, traditions, experiences, and appreciations, as well as our areas for growth and change.

I am grateful for our community and for our commitment to making it something we can all appreciate and enjoy. I hope I run into you this year by the fireplace, or in the courtyard, by the statue of the lady with the shawl, or see your presence in our shared sentiments.

–  Best, Dianna –