Dear Campus Community,
Racial equity has been at the forefront of national news for the last several months following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Achieving racial equity on a national scale has to start small and must include equity in the workplace.
Did you know that almost ⅓ of American workers do not feel safe voicing their opinions about racial bias in the workplace? Or that 52% of Black American workers believe they have been treated unfairly at work because of their race compared to only 4% of white workers? These statistics and many more from SHRM’s Together Forward @ Work campaign show precisely why it is important to engage in discussions about race and racial equity in the workplace.
The ADVANCE team is asking you to step-up and lead the way in ensuring that the workplace at Michigan Tech is one of inclusivity and equity for people of all races. Today, we’re asking that each of you Take The Pledge to create an inclusive and equitable workplace. When you take the pledge, please write your commitment or “I pledge” on your hand, take a photo of it and share the photo and your pledge statement (see example attached) with us via email (advance-mtu@mtu.edu). Our campus leaders were asked to sign on to this pledge last week. You can view their pledges via this link.We will be anonymously compiling their pledges and yours to create a collage to share in conjunction with University Marketing and Communications through our networks and on Twitter with #TogetherForwardAtWork to show the world that Michigan Tech is dedicated to creating not just any future, but one of diversity, equity and inclusion.
If you have any questions about this project or would like to become involved in ADVANCE programming, we encourage you to reach out.
Regards,
The ADVANCE Team
Adrienne, Sonia, Patty, Andrew, Brad, Betsy, and Karen
Today’s feature was shared with us by Michael Olson, a member of our Advocates and Allies programs Advocates Group-a team of men dedicated to designing and facilitating workshops on equity at Michigan Tech. If you have an article you think we should feature, please email it to advance-mtu@mtu.edu and we will consider adding it to the ADVANCE Weekly Roundup.
The ADVANCE Weekly Roundup is brought to you by ADVANCE at Michigan Tech, which is an NSF-funded initiative dedicated to improving faculty career success, retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion. These articles are available on the ADVANCE Newsblog (https://blogs.mtu.edu/advance/). To learn more about this week’s topic, our mission, programming efforts, and to check out our growing collection of resources, contact us at (advance-mtu@mtu.edu) or visit our website: www.mtu.edu/advance.
