We successfully led a group of students and faculty to lobby for the College of Engineering to allocate ~$20,000 for unconscious bias and microaggression training for engineering students and faculty. The idea came after hearing students recount stories of covert racism that they regularly experienced as engineering students. Harmful actions and microaggression begin to disappear when we bring our biases into our conscious awareness. See our initial letter to the department and our petition here. 

Students rarely interact with professors outside of the classroom, and rarely have spare time to be in nature and feel the healing effects. We had fun hiking Mt. Skinner with professors and students of a variety of STEM majors! 

In collaboration with SHPE, CLACLS, and SACNAS, we worked to bring the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month to the UMass ENGINEERING QUAD. Music, food, salsa lessons, and spoken word was shared between hispanic and non-hispanic students just outside where engineering classes are held. 

In celebrating Native American heritage month, we advertised an opportunity to engineering students to view the film Powerlands and attend the December 1st, Powerlands Extravaganza. The Powerlands Extravaganza featured a discussion with the film's director, questions and answers with university deans and faculty, a dinner featuring Native American cuisine, and a big screen viewing of the Powerlands. Powerlands is an important film that provides insight into the negative impacts that the energy industry has on indigenous communities across three continents. You can learn more here. 

Solidarity between students of different majors is vital for building community. This event was exclusively for students to discuss and critique the structure, environment, and curriculae within their major. The comments were documented and anonymously submitted to the professors of all engineering departments. Please see the jamboard that we created here. 

Because UMass is a public university and a state institution, UMass bathrooms have to abide by state plumbing code. The current infrastructure in the engineering academic buildings is not inclusive to gender non-conforming students as there are few gender neutral bathrooms in the academic spaces. In beginning to stage our own revolt for more access to all-gender bathrooms, we were overjoyed to learn that members of the stonewall center and other MA policy personnel are working to create a more accessible plumbing code that will allow for the creation of more inclusive spaces. We met with members of UMass facilities and the MA plumbing board and walking the academic engineering buildings to express our concerns. Learn more about the movement here. 

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) is AAC&U’s center of STEM higher education reform dedicated to empowering STEM faculty, including those from underrepresented groups, to graduate more students in STEM fields who are competitively trained and liberally educated. As part of the annual PKAL conference we hosted a session and zine workshop. Participants engaged in sharing thoughts on the culture in STEM, its impacts on practitioners and the broader society, and the impacts of building community. Following these discussions, participants were given the space, time, and encouragement to create a collaborative zine. Learn more here!

In collaboration with engineering administrators and UMass facilities workers, we created a policy framework for engineering students to submit their artwork to be displayed in our academic buildings. Engineering students are rarely encouraged to display their creativity. By celebrating our artistic talents, more community can be formed that rehumanizes our environment. Submit your art here!

STEM professionals are often unaware of the existence of employment opportunities in worker cooperatives where you can work communally, on your own terms, with people who see you as an equal and share your values. This integrative panel session welcomed open conversation and questions with professionals in tech co-ops, followed by small group discussions where participants have an opportunity to network and explore the realities of working in co-ops. This event was held as part of a larger conference for building worker power. Learn more here. 

From concrete canoes to rockets, there are plenty of engineering student groups and design teams to join. The leaders of these engineering groups have the ability to create an inclusive community, but they don't receive training on best practices to do so. In collaboration with UMass Engineering DEI administrators, we designed a leadership to be taught and shared with the leaders of these students groups. The curriculum leads students through discussion on what makes a good leader and how to create inclusive spaces. 

Listen to Mark Wagner as he interviews Steve Fernandez and graduating seniors at UMass Amherst about what it's like to be in engineering education, what the job prospects look like, how love is taught. Listen here!

We presented our findings and our reflections at the Undergraduate Research Conference on Friday April 28. Learn more here!