[GSC-Diversity-All] GSC Diversity Committee Update and Meeting Invitation

[Elizabeth Clay]

Dear Friends,

The Diversity Committee has begun our first year with new  
partnerships, events and a committed membership. We are excited about  
our plans for the next few months, and want to work more with you to  
reach common goals for a more diverse and inclusive MIT campus. You  
are invited to our next Diversity Committee meeting on Tuesday Nov.  
21st at 6:30pm in the GSC Office (2nd Floor of Walker Memorial).  
Please RSVP for the meeting, as dinner will be served.

Please take a look at some of the things we are up to- we want your  
input and participation.
-       Minority Graduate Students Dinner on Friday, November 17th at  
6:30 pm at Harriet Tubman House on the corner of Mass. Ave and  
Columbus Ave. in the South End (Take the #1 bus from MIT and get off  
after the Mass. Ave. Orange Line stop). This will be a great chance  
to fellowship with classmates and meet new folks from different  
departments while enjoying delicious food from Merengue. New and  
returning students are welcome.

-       After the Provosts’ annual review of underrepresented  
minority recruitment efforts at the Faculty Meeting last month, we  
requested a meeting with Chancellor Clay and Provost Reif to discuss  
MIT’s progress and continuing challenges in this area. The meeting is  
scheduled for November 30th. We will address some of the  
recommendations from our report last spring, but want to bring the  
ideas of a wide group of students. At our next Diversity Committee  
meeting (Tuesday Nov. 21st at 6:30pm) we will discuss who will attend  
the meeting and strategy. If you have ANY suggestions, please email  
them to gsc-diversity at mit.edu and/or join us at the next meeting.

-       We have other projects underway including planning for an  
Institute-wide discussion of what it means to be a “person of color”  
or “minority” for people who are born in the U.S. compared to those  
born and raised in other countries but now living in the U.S. We also  
hope to hold and art and culture exhibition that will showcase the  
work of MIT artists in residence and engage students, faculty and staff.

-       There is another great incentive for members and officers of  
your organization to join Diversity Committee. The GSC recently  
passed the GSC Discretionary Allocation to Graduate Student Group —  
An optional allocation of up to $250 per Fall and Spring semester  
will be given to graduate student groups that become involved with  
the GSC by having an officer as a member of a GSC committee.


We will discuss this and much more at the meeting, hope to see you  
there. Feel free to send this around to other individuals and groups  
that I have left off of the list.

Thanks
Elizabeth Clay and Nakeischea Loi Smith, Co-Chairs

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