Diversity

The University of California, Merced, today announced the appointment of Dania Matos as Associate Chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Matos is the first appointment to the new position, which will serve on Chancellor Dorothy Leland’s senior leadership team and is charged with advising the team on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and overseeing campus diversity initiatives. Her appointment, which begins in July,  follows a nationwide search that included input from throughout the campus community.

On Monday, April 1^st LGBTQ+ students and allies at UC Merced kicked off their annual Pride Week festivities with a ceremony by the Native Indigenous Student Coalition (NISC), followed by a march and carnival. The theme of this year’s event is “Year of Growth, Resistance and Expression,” to uplift and celebrate inclusion at the university.

UC Merced staff members, students and alumni participated in an experiment to help people gain a better understanding of others’ opinions without abandoning their own viewpoint or values.

Getting people to talk about polarizing topics while remaining respectful was the goal behind last week’s “3 Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide,” a two-day workshop series designed to expose campus and community members to a structured and thoughtful way of talking about differences of opinion.

Representatives from UC Merced have joined President Janet Napolitano’s newly formed Chicano/Latino Advisory Council for the University of California.

UC Merced’s Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Marjorie S. Zatz was selected as one of the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education’s eighth annual special report recognizing the contributions of women to higher education.

The edition, in honor of Women’s History Month, marks the publication’s 35th anniversary by highlighting 35 women who are tackling some of higher education’s toughest challenges, exhibiting extraordinary leadership skills and making a difference in their respective communities.

UC Merced’s Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Marjorie S. Zatz was selected as one of the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education’s eighth annual special report recognizing the contributions of women to higher education.

The edition, in honor of Women’s History Month, marks the publication’s 35th anniversary by highlighting 35 women who are tackling some of higher education’s toughest challenges, exhibiting extraordinary leadership skills and making a difference in their respective communities.

UC Merced welcomed Beth Mitchneck, vice provost for Faculty Success at University of Massachusetts, Lowell, as part of Chancellor’s Dialogue on Diversity and Interdisciplinarity series last week.

Mitchneck presented “Institutional Change for Equality: A Recipe for Change,” which provided a framework for institutional transformation to help universities become more gender equitable.

Having a conversation about a divisive topic is hard – emotions run high and people dig in and shut down.

On March 19 and 20, UC Merced will host a series of workshops designed to expose campus and community members to a structured and thoughtful way of talking about differences of opinion.

The next lecture in the Chancellor’s Dialogue on Diversity and Interdisciplinarity series will be from Beth Mitchneck, Vice Provost for Faculty Success at UMass Lowell. The dialogue is designed to bring notable scholars to campus to present current issues within higher education. On Monday, March 11, Mitchneck will present “Institutional Change for Equality: A Recipe for Change.”