Welcome!
We're very excited to share with you OUR Rochester, featuring multicultural news and updates from the University of Rochester, in a more dynamic and engaging format. This brings you the same great content you've come to expect from the e-newsletter edition, but with multimedia capability, social media sharing functionality, and 24/7 access. We look forward to continuing to support the University's commitment to diversity and inclusion, and are thrilled to have a new forum to help keep you connected with your fellow alumni. Meliora!
Comments? Questions? Contact us at 585.273.5888 or alumni@rochester.edu.
Health Disparities and COVID-19
Apr 28, 2020
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact around the world and the toll the disease has taken will be felt for years to come. Recent reports show that the disease is killing Black and Latinx Americans at disproportionately high rates. In the latest episode of Insights, the Office of Equity and Inclusion’s podcast, Linda Clark, president of the Black… read more
Equity and Inclusion in a Pandemic
Apr 2, 2020
What are the realities of a virtually connected world when it comes to equity and inclusion? In the Office of Equity and Inclusion’s Insights podcast, that’s one of the questions addressed by Mercedes Ramírez Fernández, the Richard Feldman Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer; Adrienne Morgan, associate vice… read more
Share Your Memories: LGBTQ Exhibit Submission Project
Mar 26, 2020
LGBTQ EXHIBIT SUBMISSION FORM October 3, 2020 marks 50 years since the first meeting of the Gay Liberation Front, a student organization that is now widely known to have grown into Out Alliance and Pride Network. In celebration of this historic milestone of LGBTQ history at the University of Rochester, we are collecting memories and memorabilia to… read more
More Ways to Help During COVID-19
Mar 25, 2020
We mentioned yesterday that the Medical Center is accepting donations of supplies, food, and money as they work meet the challenges of COVID-19. Today, we offer a few additional ways you can lend a hand. Support student emergency funds: There are two special emergency funds for students on the River Campus and at the Eastman School of Music that… read more
COVID-19: How You Can Help UR Medicine Hospitals
Mar 24, 2020
Please visit the University's COVID-19 website for most current information and guideline updates at the University or Rochester. How You Can Help UR Medicine Hospitals Donations Thank you for your interest in supporting UR Medicine as we work to meet the unprecedented challenges COVID-19 presents to our community and health care system. Our needs… read more
A Guardian of Equity
Mar 11, 2020
Inspirational Leader's Difficult Past Fuels Her Fight for Student Equity To understand what has driven Shalonda Garfield ‘14W (MS) to spend her career in education—and to pursue two advanced degrees in educational leadership from the Warner School—it’s important to know where she came from. “I know all too well the effects that poverty… read more
Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion at URMC
Mar 9, 2020
An event highlighting the broad range of activities and resources at the medical center that contribute to our diverse and inclusive environment. The event aims to increase awareness of diversity-related initiatives at URMC and help people connect to these efforts and to one another. Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion at URMC is organized in… read more
‘I Also Saw the Women Who Came Before Me’
Feb 28, 2020
A child advocacy lawyer is selected for a prominent portrait series that’s earning wide praise for its depiction of black Americans. Ileah Welch ’05 and former First Lady Michelle Obama have something in common: both have had portraits painted by Amy Sherald, an artist who’s earning national recognition for helping bring the lives of black… read more
Why are 'Oscars so white,' not just on stage but online?
Feb 11, 2020
Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix recently said that American and British film industries give white actors “preferential treatment.” “Phoenix is correct,” agrees Bethany Lacina, an associate professor of political science at the University of Rochester, in an analysis for the Washington Post’s “Monkey Cage” site. “Major film… read more
Frederick Douglass Institute Speaker Series
Feb 4, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 20201 - 3 p.m. Gowen Room, River Campus Fireda Ekotto, Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies, Comparative Literature and Francophone Studies at The University of Michigan and Marthe Djilo Kamga, film director will discuss “Vibrancy of Silence: A Discussion with My Sisters” (2018). In this… read more
MAG: Black History Month Celebration
Feb 3, 2020
Several times each year, the Memorial Art Gallery opens its doors and offers Rochester area families and community members the opportunity to learn more about specific cultures. These events for all ages feature hands-on art activities, music and dance demonstrations, storytelling, and a variety of cultural displays. Suggested donation $5 per… read more
Gender, Sex, and Power: Beyond White Suffrage
Jan 30, 2020
Gender, Sex, and Power: Beyond White Suffrage Teach-In Thursday, February 13, 20209:30 a.m. - 4 a.m.Humanities Center, University of Rochester This teach-in organized by the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, entitled Gender, Sex, and Power: Beyond White Suffrage, will demonstrate the vibrant research… read more
Video Installation That Explores Race, Gender, and Art History
Jan 27, 2020
Giverny I (NÉGRESSE IMPÉRIALE), 2017 December 20, 2019–April 5, 2020 Ja’Tovia Gary (American, b. 1984) is an American artist and filmmaker whose work investigates the ways in which visual and media cultures shape our perceptions around race, gender, and specifically Blackness. Her poignant and distinctive visual… read more
Two Honored with Presidential Diversity Awards
Jan 24, 2020
Kit Miller, director of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, and Caroline Nestro ’18W (PhD), a senior associate in the Department of Psychiatry, are the recipients of the 2020 Presidential Diversity Award. The honor is presented annually to recognize faculty, staff, students, units, departments, or teams that “demonstrate a commitment to… read more
MLK Commemorative Address - January 24
Jan 21, 2020
This week in University history, the first MLK Commemorative Address was delivered. Julian Bond, whose civil rights work first brought him to national prominence in the 1960s, delivered the inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Address in 2001. Take a look back at previous speakers. Eddie Glaude, Jr., chair of the Department of African… read more
19th Amendment Committee Celebrates Impact of Rochester Women
Sep 23, 2019
The University is pleased to announce the formation of the 19th Amendment Collaborative, a committee focused on marking the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and celebrating the impact of Rochester women, beginning in January 2020 and continuing through Meliora Weekend 2021. With a mindful eye on issues of… read more
Meet Karen Chance Mercurius
Sep 12, 2019
Karen Chance Mercurius:Connecting the Community Rochester’s new head of Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement wants to strengthen connections, opportunities, and networks. Defining moments happened early in the life of Karen Chance Mercurius. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, the child of parents who immigrated to the US from Grenada in… read more
Be a part of the Rochester Black Alumni Network!
Sep 9, 2019
Join the Office of Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement to celebrate and learn more about the emerging Black Alumni Network. Over dinner, discuss the progress of the University’s diversity initiatives and how you can be part of the Black Alumni Network nationally and in the Rochester region. Dinner hosted by Francis Clement… read more
AS&E Discussions on Topical Challenges Lecture: Reginald Dwayne Betts
Sep 5, 2019
Poet and memoirist Reginald Dwayne Betts will present “The Problem with Violence: the Inherent Contradictions in Criminal Justice Reform” at the Arts, Sciences, & Engineering Deans’ Conversation on Topical Challenges. The event takes place on Wednesday, September 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Interfaith Chapel, River Campus.… read more
Headlines & Happenings: September 2019
Sep 3, 2019
Headlines Catch up on some featured articles that you may have missed last month! These Mentors Make a Difference for First-Generation, Minority Students Five University faculty mentors are the inaugural recipients of a new mentorship award from the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity: Roman Sobolewski, a professor of electrical and… read more