Diversity Initiatives
Diversity Initiatives Committee
Edna Turay Diversity Initiatives Committee Chair
Edna Turay is a third year from Richmond, Virginia. She is a double major in Global Development Studies and Foreign Affairs, with a possible French minor. In addition to council, Edna is an Honor Council Educator and UVa liasion to the Black Leadership Institute. She is driven, motivated and absolutely in love with Council. She has been on Student Council since the first semester of her first year, and is excited to make more StudCo memories this semester.
Sarah Imam Diversity Initiatives Committee Chair
Sarah Imam
The Diversity Initiatives Committee is responsible for promoting initiatives to improve the diversity of the University, and bringing issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religion to the attention of the University.
Recent News & Updates:
- New Year! New Ideas!
- Positivity Tree! Spreading love….one tree at a time
- DI’s Doing It…Again
- The Commemoration: Preserving Our Past, Framing Our Future
- Staying In Charlottesville Over Winter Break?????
Upcoming Events: [show-ics-events cal=7]
Past Committee initiatives include:
- Non-Discrimination: The committee would like to see the non-discrimination policy changed to reaffirm protections for “sexual orientation” and expand the policy to include “gender identity.” The committee helped research policies of the top 50 ranked schools. The committee also has endorsed Resolution SR 10-02 which was unanimously approved by Student Council.
- Handicap-Housing: The committee has secured a $2,000 joint donation from the Office of the Dean of Students, Wade Apartments, Woodard Properties, and Grandmarc at the Corner for a fund from which students with disabilities may draw to make necessary modifications to their off-grounds apartments. The committee has also created a print database of off-grounds handicap-accessible apartments and is finalizing an online version.
- The Memorial for Enslaved Laborers: The committee has successfully passed a resolution through student council articulating support for the construction of a new, more appropriate and prominent Memorial for Enslaved Laborers. The committee completed a survey of nearly 1,000 students which indicated the need for more education about the history of slavery at UVA. A very moving and well attended forum was held on April 5th that shared expert historical research by University professors.