Dec 6, 2019
Dear colleagues,
At UCI, inclusive excellence animates who we are as a campus and our commitment to building and sustaining a community where all expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion and honor free speech. This commitment enjoins all of us to understand each other and treat each other with respect.
In this spirit, I am writing to share an update with the campus about efforts to promote an inclusive culture in support of our transgender, gender nonbinary and intersex community. In spring 2019, at the direction of Chancellor Gillman, I convened a taskforce to advise me about the implementation of the Toward an Inclusive Campus report and recommendations.
Including staff and faculty representatives and undergraduate and graduate student leaders, the taskforce was guided by three principles, including:
- Improving legibility in the various data systems for designating gender identity
- Promoting respectful inter-personal experiences in learning and working environments
- Seeking full membership and participation in campus life
The taskforce has established a dedicated website. Aligned to the guiding principles, the website is a resource to learn about how the campus is engaged in supporting the transgender community and how each of us can participate in advancing inclusive excellence. To this end, I want to draw attention to the gender affirmation resources including a Gender Affirmation Glossary and Inclusive Communication Practices, located here – https://inclusion.uci.edu/gender-inclusive-campus. These resources recognize the range of gender identity and provide valuable tools for making the campus more inclusive for all.
Expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion, and honor free speech.
Douglas M. Haynes (he/him/his)
Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Office of Inclusive Excellence | inclusion.uci.edu
Director, ADVANCE Program | inclusion.uci.edu/advance
Professor of History | www.humanities.uci.edu/history