DEI Actions Challenge

The Department of Mechanical Engineering invites all ME faculty, staff, and graduate students to join The Challenge of completing a minimum of 15 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Actions over the course of the challenge period.

The challenge period will span several months, and prizes can be earned upon completing each set of 5 actions. The Challenge started on June 15, 2021, and will conclude on September 30, 2021.

Registration is open until two weeks before the challenge period ends (until September 15th), and is required to ensure adequate resources for the distribution of prizes.

A DEI Action is an activity participants engage in to receive or relay DEI-centered content. The intention of these actions is to influence ourselves and those around us to promote a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive culture. Examples of actions that can qualify:

• Listening to a podcast

• Watching a film or documentary

• Reading an article or book

• Facilitating or engaging in a discussion

• Attending a training or workshop

A resource list with direct links and information is available on this site, but participants are encouraged to seek opportunities outside of the provided list, as well.

A Common Action will also be announced in June, July, and August, for all participants, that counts towards the 15 actions of The Challenge. These common actions will center around themes to foster community and to provide a unifying discussion topic that is integrated into the department through organic conversation and encouraged as intentional agenda topics in meetings. In other words: over the duration of The Challenge, participants will engage in 12 self-selected DEI Actions and 3 designated Common Actions shared by the entire Challenge community.

Participants are rewarded after completing a set of 5 DEI Actions (including one designated Common Action). Prizes will increase in value with each set of 5 actions completed. Please see the "Prizes" page for more details on what prizes are available and how they will be distributed.

To further reinforce the department’s commitment to supporting and celebrating the diverse identities within our department and our broader community, the list of prizes will draw from minority-owned businesses in the area.

Over the past year, the ME department has made powerful statements emphasizing a commitment to advancing DEI in our community. In order for our department to drive change, we must arm ourselves with the knowledge and resources to recognize power, privilege, oppression and inequity to disrupt the structures that allow them to exist. The Challenge aims to provide a foundation for participants to build habits related to DEI actions and to seek opportunities to integrate them into our daily work. The ME DEI Actions Challenge will push our department to engage in collective education on and reflection of perspectives outside of our own to enhance our intercultural competence. This, in turn, would help to shift the culture of our department to further prioritize the needs of our marginalized, underrepresented populations, to increase the diversity of our community, and to amplify the voices of those who may often be overlooked and underappreciated.