Awards Season

Since the start of the semester, Mines DI&A has been busy recognizing the outstanding work of departments, students and colleagues across campus who are working hard—and seeing results— to make Mines a more diverse, equitable and inclusive campus community. Recipients of the annual DI&A Awards, INSIGHT’s Inspiring Programs in STEM and Diversity Progress Report Awards were all featured in campus communications, on our social media and website and at the campus town hall earlier this month.

In mid-September, Mines received the 2022 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This national award honors U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — Mines will be featured, along with 102 other recipients, in next month’s issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. In this month’s Digest, we highlight a few institutional efforts that captured the attention of the selection committee.

We know there are many Orediggers amongst us whose work did not receive national attention or a shout out in a public forum this year. We hope that you, as either a recipient or an admirer of their work, will find an avenue to recognize their efforts in a future team meeting, a coffee treat or a penned thank you note.

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

Content This Month

• Mines receives the 2022 HEED award
• National Hispanic Heritage Month
• A weekend of diversity learning and skill development
• Inside and Outside the Box returns next month
• Student organization spotlight: Oredigger Disability Activism and Community
• Nurture Your Nature
• Contribute to next month’s Mines DI&A Digest
• Save the dates

Mines receives the 2022 HEED award

INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine’s Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award honors U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Earlier this month, President Johnson said, “This award, and the national recognition associated with it, is validation of the efforts by so many in our community to achieve our goal of being a Top-of-Mind and First-Choice university for students and employees from all backgrounds. It also reflects Mines’ deep commitment to supporting the success of all members of our community. We’re proud of our progress and looking forward to seeing the continued impact of the many initiatives taking place across Mines.” 

INSIGHT selected Mines partly due to the following accomplishments: 

• Mines was awarded $200,000 from the Newmont Corporation for two projects: (1) STEM Equity Fellows to develop curriculum to increase inclusive teaching across Mines courses; (2) Strategies Promoting Undergraduate Retention (SPUR) investigates factors that affect BIPOC students’ retention and identify solutions. 

• The Associate in Engineering Science degree program is a partnership between Mines and the Colorado Community College System that allows for a smoother transfer process from community colleges to Mines, increasing access to the institution. 

• Student Life leadership, as part of the Diversity, Inclusion & Access strategic vision, created and hired a new role of Assistant Vice President of Student Life for Equity and Engagement in FY22. 

National Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) celebrates the rich and diverse Hispanic culture and honors Latinx who have positively influenced and enriched our communities and country. Mines is home to two active groups: Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Latinx Mines Community Alliance (MCA) that foster community for the Hispanic and Latinx communities. They also hold campus events to raise cultural awareness, support professional development and engage networks both within and off campus. The Latinx MCA’s second book club started this week. They are reading Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed. It’s not too late to join! Contact Noah Sandoval noahsandoval@mines.edu to learn about the meeting location. Students can join SHPE and their bi-monthly meetings, socials and outreach activities by visiting @SHPECSM | Linktree. Employees can join the Latinx MCA by completing a short sign-up form. All social identities are welcome to participate. 

A weekend of diversity learning and skill development

Last weekend, 62 Mines Advocates, Ambassadors, Peer Educators and SafeZONE facilitators spent two full-days learning from each other and from DI&A experts in preparation for facilitating learning and skill development workshops across campus. The first day was filled with learning workshop content, understanding data, the history of words and phrases and practicing scenarios in preparation for delivering workshops to the Oredigger community. This learning was done in a train the trainer model, where seasoned faculty, staff and student facilitators presented to and coached new facilitators. DI&A experts from North Dakota State University and Auburn University spent the afternoon with the Mines Advocates. Day two was a deep dive learning session with DI&A expert, Regan Byrd, who led sessions on social identity, the Four I’s of Oppression and facilitation best practices and tools. View the suite of workshops and request the Mines Advocates, Ambassadors, Peer Educators and SafeZONE facilitators to come to a regularly scheduled or unique meeting this semester. All workshops have an option for in-person or virtual.

Inside and Outside the Box returns next month

Join the Asian, Black, Latinx, LGBTQ and Women Mines Community Alliances (MCAs) on October 25 for a morning of professional development and connection with peers. This in-person event and its content were designed with the entire Oredigger community in mind. New this year – sessions for students! Breakout sessions are held on topics such as allyship, careers, recruitment, research, marketing and inclusion. Learn more and register. This year’s event is sponsored by Mines DI&A and the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering.

Student organization spotlight: Oredigger Disability Activism and Community  

Oredigger Disability Activism and Community (ODAC) started in 2021 to promote activism and community within the disabled population at Mines. ODAC strives to raise more awareness of this population of Orediggers, make campus more accessible and demonstrate allyship. Connect with the group on Instagram @odacmines or join the group’s Engage page. They also have a Teams channel where members can get to know each other and suggest/access resources. Email odacmines@gmail.com to gain access or share any questions or concerns.

Nurture Your Nature

Nurture Your Nature, facilitated by Matt Glowacki, is an inclusive identity event that welcomes everyone to help them better understand who they are, why they are and what they want to be. Matt uses storytelling to conceptualize differences into common struggles while building empathy amongst different people groups. Join the learning and conversation on Wednesday, October 5, 6:00-7:00 PM, Student Center Ballrooms DE.

Contribute to September’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 September’s Mines DI&A Digest. Submissions must be received by the first week of September in order to make it into the Digest.

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

• 10/4 @ 10:00 AM Mines DI&A Council Monthly Meeting-General. Open to all Orediggers.
• 10/5 @ 11:00-11:30 AM Unconscious Bias & Microaggressions Bystander Learning Community
• 10/5 @ 12:00 PM WISEM’s Chevron Lecture and Luncheon featuring Pooja Sankar, Founder of Piazza, Friedhoff Hall
• 10/19 @ 11:00-11:30 AM Unconscious Bias & Microaggressions Bystander Learning Community
• 10/25 @ 8:30-12:30 PM Inside and Outside the Box Professional Development, Green Center

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.