Lactation policy helps support parents in the VCU community
New policy and lactation room reviews are latest additions to resources Equity and Access Services offers to support pregnancy and parenthood The work of one student can have a profound impact on a campus. While the development and implementation of the new campus-wide lactation policy has involved dozens of people, it started with Kirsten Olsen, […]
Camp Qmunity co-directors share their vision and aspirations for this year’s cohort
Q Collective’s open house in Oct. 2019 It is only July, but it has already been an historical year. Among the highlights: COVID-19, the George Floyd protests and the uncertainty of an economy ravaged by a global health crisis. All of those events and many other topics, however, will likely be the subtext at Camp Qmunity, […]
Psychological Readiness and Return to Campus
A new eLearning module on Psychological Readiness and Return to Campus developed by VCU’s Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success (IES), in partnership with Human Resources’ Office of Learning, Development & Organizational Culture, will be released in Talent@VCU on June 22, 2020. This course endeavors to help each of us to become more self-aware and better prepared for […]
Maintaining an Equitable and Inclusive Work Environment During This Health Crisis
We live in challenging times. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our work and learning environments and fundamentally changed how we interact with one another. Despite these challenges and the myriad adjustments we have all had to make, it has become increasingly vital that we maintain equitable and inclusive relationships—free of discrimination, unconscious bias, and retaliation—in […]
Queer in the Time of COVID
When we made the rapid transition to remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were resolute in our efforts to reconfigure our administrative and academic infrastructure and operations in a manner that was as inclusive as possible. We provided emergency housing and food to students in need, organized a fund to support our […]
Reimagining Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility: Emerging from the COVID-19 Chrysalis
Our world as we know it is changing by the second. With such uncertainty in even our day-to-day existence, why would accessibility matter? How could this experience reshape the inclusion of individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities in our everyday lives? At VCU, we’ve been challenged to rethink and reimagine how we can connect virtually, […]
Overcoming Difference to Become A Difference-maker
Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to its mission to educate, to innovate, and to provide world-class healthcare and treatment to all who come to us. We remain steadfast in our quest to discover life-saving treatments, especially as it relates to COVID-19, a pandemic that threatens all of us. As our healthcare teams work together to […]
Ageism in the era of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is shining a light on a form of discrimination that has long existed but garnered little attention – ageism. Ageism, oppression based on age, has taken center stage in our current climate. Public responses to the pandemic have included sentiments that minimize the impact of the virus because it only affects the elderly as […]
Archana Pathak, Ph.D., Honored as Catalyst Award winner at Side by Side’s Springtime Gala
Archana Pathak, Ph.D., is being honored as a Catalyst Award recipient at Side by Side’s 2020 Springtime Gala. The Catalyst Awards are given to influential people, groups, and faith communities in the central Virginia region for outstanding service on behalf of Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth. Pathak currently serves as the special assistant to the vice president of […]
Models of Inclusive Excellence
The Division for Inclusive Excellence confers the award to administrative and academic units that achieve distinction in cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment for its faculty and staff. Twenty-five major divisions and offices, colleges and schools are assessed on a biennial basis using assessment and performance data collected from multiple university sources and compiled in […]
