Inaugural Inclusive Excellence Week
In spite of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the school’s inaugural Inclusive Excellence Week took place Oct. 19th – 23rd. The week of virtual events presented speakers highlighting a variety of topics from oral health disparities and cultural sensitivity, to clinician wellness and workplace laws.
Congratulations to Dr. Carlos Smith, our newly appointed director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for creating such a vital learning experience. Every day provided a program packed with information to be put to use immediately. This first Inclusive Excellence Week sets a tone for future events that support our core values and our mission. Well done.
Feedback from both the School of Dentistry and attendees from outside the school illustrate the need for continued education surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I participated in the webinar that highlighted Professor Wendy Greene’s work! I want to thank you wholeheartedly for selecting the topic and for presenting that information to your constituencies,” said Joann T. Richardson, Ph.D., associate professor, director, Health Behavior Coaching Program, VCU Globe Faculty Fellow, Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. “As a Black woman who has experienced judgement and discrimination for decades because of my hairstyles, her work allows me to “exhale,” knowing that someone understands and is fighting to change perceptions and laws. Thank you so much!”
Dineisha Brown, executive assistant and office manager in the Department of Dental Public Health and Policy was also impressed.
“I wanted to express how much I thoroughly enjoyed every speaker during DEI’s Inaugural Inclusive Excellence Week. It was most definitely a successful week full of well prepared history layouts, personal experiences, and an important reminder to be aware and respect our many differences. I truly learned a lot and I feel honored to have been a part of the committee.”
Dr. Smith is making great progress in myriad areas concerning our reaffirmation to the values of diversity, equity and inclusion. These efforts touch every facet of our educational enterprise: patient care, policies and protocols, enhancing our curriculum for cultural competence and more comprehensive understanding of health disparities and more.
He designed the inaugural Inclusive Excellence Week to serve as an exclamation point for all the school is doing. It is a schoolwide opportunity, he told me, to pause together and take notice of our progress and wins but also our challenges and opportunities.
“The goal of any comprehensive DEI agenda is to get to belonging – where everyone (students, staff, faculty and patients) feels welcome,” he says. “Where we leverage all of our differences to the benefit of the whole.”
Dr. Smith kicked off the week and provided an overview of the School of Dentistry’s DEI commitments addressing DEI as a core value inextricably linked to ethics and dentistry and dental hygiene’s status as professions. He also discussed implications for dental education, clinician wellness and curricular change thus improving patient outcomes and access to care.
Tuesday focused on oral health disparities and the Latino/a/x community. Dina Garcia, Ph.D, M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy at the VCU School of Medicine, who has built her career addressing latino/a/x oral health inequities, presented the socio-cultural factors that contribute to oral health disparities among Latinx populations in the U.S. She also explored community-engaged approaches as a best practice for mitigating these disparities.
Wednesday highlighted the School of Dentistry’s historic commitment to international students, with a panel discussion of Kuwaiti alumni. Hani Al Mazeedi D.D.S. (D.D.S. ‘99/D), Nassar Mohammed D.D.S. (D.D.S. ‘18/D), and third-year dental student Talal Aburezq offered reflections and insights on the unique Kuwaiti contributions to the diversity of the School of Dentistry and improving oral health outcomes for all, particularly our Arabic speaking and Muslim patients.
Thursday featured Steven Crossman, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the VCU School of Medicine. He provided information on LGBTIQ+ health inequalities highlighting the need for cultural humility and cultural sensitivity as health care providers.
Friday’s keynote speaker was Wendy Greene, J.D., LL.M., the first Black woman tenured law professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Professor Greene, through her legal scholarship and public advocacy, has generated historic civil rights protections for victims of discrimination in workplaces, schools, public accommodations, and housing. Her presentation focused on hair discrimation, civil rights law, workplace grooming policies and norms of professionalism. Her work has informed, to date, every legal pronouncement in the U.S. – on municipal, state, and federal levels – that natural hair discrimination is unlawful race discrimination.
My thanks and appreciation to Dr. Smith and his team and to the presenters who made this first DEI event such a success.
NOTE: If you missed any of the presentations, the week’s event recordings will be available soon on the school’s YouTube channel.
Categories Deans blog, schoolwide news