February 2022 D I and A Digest Header
A Celebration of DI&A at Mines

What a celebration it was! Halfway through the year, we set aside time for all of campus to gather to learn about progress on the Mines DI&A Strategic Plan, share updates on department and campus units’ implementation plan goals and engage in learning and skill development opportunities. Just shy of 240 Orediggers participated in the February 15, day-long event. The Celebration included 13 interactive learning and skill development workshops, department/campus unit flash talks and a Keynote lunch on organizational allyship presented by Regan Byrd.

The event was a celebration of our collective successes in creating a more inclusive, welcoming and equitable Oredigger community. Highlights of a few of our efforts were shared during the lunch:

  • $5,300 in small community grants have been awarded, directly impacting over 250 Orediggers. These grants have spring-boarded conversations on the impact of COVID-19 for professional women, fostered dialogue on inequalities in STEM with respect to gender, racial and other marginalized social identities and raised cultural awareness of Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) student organizations.
  • Mines fall 2021 incoming class is the largest in history – for new and transfer undergraduate students, Mines had a 28% increase in the number of female enrollments from fall 2020 to fall 2021. And a 20% increase in the number of students of color from fall 2020 to fall 2021.
  • Academic faculty hires have also seen an increase in representation: the number of female academic faculty hires increased by 23% and by 17% for the number of academic faculty of color for the 2021-2022 hiring cycle.

All these things we, as a community, contributed to. Thank you for all the ways you continue to support diversity, inclusion and access at Mines.

Dr. Amy E. Landis, Tammy Curry, Heather Houlton and Kelly Knechtel
Mines DI&A

A brief survey was sent to all Celebration registrants last week. If you have not submitted your feedback, you can do so through the end of the month. Your comments will help us adapt and grow the event for 2023.

Content This Month
Three new staff will help lead diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campus

Earlier this semester, the Mines community added three new staff who will help lead diversity, inclusion and access efforts on campus. We are excited to welcome Sheena Martinez Assistant Vice President of Student Life for Equity & Engagement, Dra. Stepheny Beauchamp Director of Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) and Kayla Tanaid Assistant Director of MEP to the Oredigger family. Mines DI&A asked all three to provide a little more insight into their professional backgrounds, something they are looking forward to in their new role and a fun fact about themselves to help us introduce them to you.

Image of Sheena MartinezSheena Martinez (she/her) joins Mines as the Assistant Vice President of Student Life for Equity & Engagement from Community College of Aurora where she served in multiple positions focused on supporting underrepresented students in K-12 and STEM pipelines. She was born in raised in Colorado and attended Colorado State University where she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees and where she worked professionally after completing both. Sheena also made a home at Georgetown University for close to nine years, working in a variety of functional areas on both the main campus in Washington, D.C. and branch campus in Doha, Qatar. Her time away from home and living abroad has been instrumental in helping her to better understand how to effectively engage with folks from all backgrounds and lived experiences. She is a proud first-generation college graduate and attributes her passion for social justice, equity, access and inclusion to her personal and professional experiences engaging in educational access programs. Sheena is most looking forward to getting to know and connect with the community, and to getting to experience E-Days and other Mines traditions. Sheena loves crocheting, reading, trying new recipes and traveling – vacation starts at the airport for her!

Image of Dra. Stepheny BeauchampDra. Stepheny Beauchamp (she/her) is the Director for the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP). Along with a Doctorate of Education in Leadership for Educational Equity, she has over 10 years of experience working with underrepresented students from 8th grade to graduate school. She also has extensive experience working in tandem with faculty to develop culturally relevant pedagogy and industry partners to build intentional pipelines that recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Stepheny is most looking forward to meeting so many amazing colleagues and students as she joins the Mines community. “MEP has a rich history of robust student programming, and I am honored to continue supporting our students through their academic journeys.” Stepheny has lived in Aurora, Colorado for eight years with her husband Noel, four chickens and soon to be expected baby boy. Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Stepheny prefers Hatch green chile, has a great recipe for red chile to share and welcomes any suggestions for breakfast burritos around town.

Image of Kayla TanaidKayla Tanaid (she/her) fulfills the role of Assistant Director for the Multicultural Engineering Program. Prior to Mines, Kayla was at the University of Colorado, Denver where she served as the Coordinator for Student Events and previously was the Inaugural Native American Program Coordinator under Student Diversity and Social Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kayla brings with her years of experience in student support services, student activity development and intercultural programming and initiatives. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Northern Colorado (Go Bears!) and was born and raised in Hawai’i, on the island of O’ahu. Kayla played the tenor saxophone in symphonic and jazz band in middle and high school and wants to get back into playing. Kayla is looking forward to the awesome MEP events such as the Leadership Retreat, MEP Banquet and the Challenge Program. She is excited to join the Oredigger community and cannot wait to see Blaster!

Elevating the experiences of Black Orediggers during Black history month

Celebrate Black History Month with KickstartKickstart, the Arthur Lakes Library and Residence Life joined forces this month to elevate Black History Month and celebrate the voices of the Black community. Founded during the 2020-2021 school year, Kickstart is a student organization that encourages people to respectfully share their honest critique, criticism and support over race relations in the United States. Members compiled video interviews of Black staff, faculty and students as they shared their experiences at Mines and how they feel the school is handling diversity. Their video will be distributed across campus with the intent of providing more context to the Black experience at Mines. Last week, Resident Advisors presented posters in the library on significant, yet not taught or often overlooked, Black people in American history.

Women of Mines Elevating Women March 5, 2022
Forces of Mines: Elevating Women summit

The Women of Mines Interest Group is excited to announce the first annual Women of Mines Leadership Summit – Forces of Mines: Elevating Women held on-campus on Saturday, March 5. The Women of Mines interest group strives to support generations of women through Mines — from student to professional — to build their dream lives and careers. This event is meant to bring together alumni, staff and students to share the best practices to unique challenges and build their network.

The guest Keynote speaker will be Christy Uffleman, CEO of Edge Leadership, a renowned leadership coach. Christy will speak about and lead us through an incredible workshop on how sharing our successes leads us to our dream lives. This event is $55 per person and $15 for current students. The cost will cover food and beverages throughout the day. Registration closes on February 25. View the program’s agenda and reserve your spot on the event page.

Apply to be a Peer Educator

Through innovative, student-centered outreach, programs and workshops, the Peer Educators create inclusive and supportive educational programming on campus for all students promoting safe, healthy behaviors and relationships. The Peer Educators complete a certified Peer Educator training and specialized training from campus professionals in areas such as bystander intervention, crisis management, diversity, resilience and wellness. Students are compensated for their service to campus and are expected to commit up to five hours of their time during the school year. The 2022-2023 application closes March 1.

 Women’s History Month calendar of activities announcedWomen's History Month Events March 2022 - Be part of the tradition of women at mines

The Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Program (WISEM) has another great line-up of professional development programs and events to celebrate Women’s History Month throughout the month of March. An RSVP is required for most of the events. 

Visit the Women’s History Month Event page for details on all of the month’s activities.

 Community Conversations resume next month with The Handmaid’s TaleCommunity Conversations - Join the Women Mines Community Alliance and the Arthur Lakes Library as we host Community Conversation that will focus on themes that will show up in the book,

On March 17th, join the Arthur Lakes Library and the Women Mines Community Alliance as they host Community Conversations around the themes that are found throughout the book, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Dr. Paula Farca from Humanities Arts and Social Sciences will facilitate the conversation. The event runs 12:30-1:30 PM in the Library. Lunch is served starting at 12:15 PM. You are encouraged to read the book or watch the TV show featured on Hulu prior to the discussion. This is an RSVP event to ensure an accurate headcount for the lunch. 

 Latinx Mines Community Alliance launches book clubImage of the book, Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Mines staff and graduate students are invited to join the spring Mines Latinx Community Alliance book club. The group will read Sabrina and Corina by local Denver author Kali Fajardo-Anstine. If interested in participating, complete a quick survey with your availability by the end of the week.

Mines Community Alliances (MCAs) operate in an inclusive manner encouraging all employees to join groups regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or other protected classification. View all five MCAs on the homepage. 

2022 Educational Equity Leadership Series; Images of teenage girl, young boy, young girl and teenage boy

Free educational equity sessions

Join other educators from across the country for the 2022 Educational Equity Leadership Series. These virtual workshops are scheduled twice a day on Thursdays throughout the 2021-2022 school year. Past topics have included Deconstructing the Pipeline to Higher Education: An Equity Perspective on College Readiness and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Asking a Different Question. The content, presenters and hosts vary for each session. 

 Nominate a colleague or peer for the 2022 DI&A awards

The annual award nomination window opened last month and runs through April 12. There are many outstanding faculty, staff, students and groups who are worthy of recognition. Consider highlighting their efforts by submitting a nomination not only to elevate their work across campus, but as a word of thanks. Award recipients demonstrate an exceptional understanding of diversity and inclusiveness as represented by their efforts to:

  • enhance inclusion through positive foster dialogue communication between people of diverse backgrounds,
  • promote an environment free from bias and discrimination,
  • raise awareness and lead initiatives that advance diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion,
  • support efforts in Mines DI&A Strategic Plan and/or
  • serve as a catalyst for change in the areas of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Contribute to next month’s Mines DI&A Digest

Help us highlight the work you or your department is doing across campus to support DI&A at Mines by submitting a brief article to next month’s Mines DI&A Digest. Submissions must be received by the first week of the month in order to make it in that month’s Digest.

Save the Dates 

Hyperlinks = virtual meeting access information. All times are Mountain Daylight Time.  

As always, we welcome your ideas, thoughts and feedback at diversity@mines.edu.
Thank you for being a member of an inclusive Oredigger community and an advocate and ally for positive social change.

Diversity, Inclusion and Access