about this newsletter

The newsletter’s mission is to connect community members in a high turnover environment with the conversations, struggles, institutional framework, and politics associated with diversity, equity and inclusion at UC Berkeley and in the biological sciences. Students, staff and faculty don’t always have the time or opportunity to read through old meeting minutes, newspaper articles and white papers. The Newsletter synthesizes and chronicle these sources while offering disparate perspectives that may not be accounted for in the standard narrative. This knowledge is essential to the empowerment of the Berkeley community, and the advancement of effective solutions on our campus.

The Newsletter strives to promote awareness of the objectives, goals and project time-lines of DEI work at the UC by cataloging a record of our progress. This means celebrating our successes, and calling attention to our shortfalls. Articles champion the services, goals and communities that foster DEI at Berkeley and how you can support that work. The Newsletter aims to bring attention to issues overlooked or under-represented. 

Newsletter articles are designed to invite conversation and serve as a touchstone for labs and community members to discuss and participate in DEI. The newsletter aims to facilitate not only discussion, but action, in the form of cross pollination and skill sharing within departments. The newsletter aims to connect readers with an incredible array of expertise and services found on campus that can enrich our interactions and community.  

The newsletter seeks to bring into the fold community members who may be new to these conversations, and assumes an open-minded readership. The newsletter is archived and available not only to the department but to prospective undergraduates and graduate students as well. That is why presenting this institution through honest and diverse perspectives is essential to the integrity of the publication. The people and issues shared in these newsletters convey the type of space we wants to cultivate, and illuminates the work we still need to do.