Announcements

Hi everyone,

My name is Farrah Simpson and I am a 3rd year PhD student at Brown University, conducting research with the CMS collaboration. I have also recently been appointed as the student representative on the executive board of the National Society of Black Physicists. I am reaching out to you today in hopes of forging community among the Black physicists within the LHC collaborations and to start to engage in conversations about ways that we can better serve this community. I would also like to forge a relationship between NSBP and the LHC collaborations in an effort to reach our common goal of creating an inclusive scientific community. Please fill out this form with your contact information (only if you feel comfortable doing so) and I will follow up with you to discuss these goals further and also extend an invitation to the NSBP family if you have not already joined.

https://forms.gle/ZrbDZMmtgfJWP2NR9

Best,

Farrah Medi Simpson (she, her, hers)

Physics PhD Student, Brown University

Executive Board Student Representative, The National Society of Black Physicists

Columbia University SEAS, B.S. '17

IMPORTANT STATEMENT ON RECENT EVENTS IN the US

Statement on Protests

ALICE-USA, US ATLAS, US CMS, US LHCb, US LUA Leadership

In the last week, the US has seen a wave of protests in response to the killing of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by a police officer in Minneapolis, and to the broader pattern of police violence without repercussions to which this killing belongs. These events have raised strong emotions in many of us.

We, the ALICE-USA, US ATLAS, US CMS, US LHCb, and US LUA leaders, stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, the protesters and their aims, and with any colleague who may join them. In particular, we encourage everyone to show visible support for the people in your community who may be feeling particularly distressed and targeted by this anti-Black violence.

Cities have restricted mobility, in addition to the COVID-19 lockdown, complicating the already challenging pandemic conditions. Our colleagues may spend less time working due to participation in the protests and cleanup efforts, or as a result of emotional distress. It is an opportune moment for those of us with relative privilege to reflect on that, and on how we might do better.

We ask that you extend your understanding and support to each other as colleagues and friends if some of us are not as productive as we might otherwise be. We are all doing the best we know how. The science will still be there when these situations resolve. We earnestly hope that we are seeing the beginning of a shift towards a more just society, in which all people are respected for their humanity, and resolve to do our part in that change.

Marina Artuso, Kevin Black, Sarah Demers, Sarah Eno, Hassan Jawahery, Bo Jayatilaka, Christine McLean, Corrinne Mills, Meenakshi Narain, Christine Nattrass, Harvey Newman, Lawrence Pinsky, Mateusz Ploskon, Harrison Prosper, Sal Rappoccio, Sheldon Stone, Gordon Watts, Michael Williams

for the US LUA Executive Committee; and the US CMS, US ALICE, US LHCb, and US ATLAS Institute Board leadership