2019-2020

Amid the ongoing protests that followed the death of George Floyd, the student-led Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences organized a department-wide conversation on race. Participating graduate students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers and department staff discussed problems and solutions within small groups and a consensus emerged that, as a precursor to becoming more anti-racist, we must educate ourselves about the history and the present day manifestation of racism within our field.

“On The Ground” would serve as a public record or social history of the work that has been done on the ground (or ground-adjacent) at UW. People can access an archive and learn from a directory of photography, personal anecdotes, and interviews, ranging topics from cultural history to current movements in and around the UW community. OTG will feature stories on Black, Indigenous, or minority undergraduates, graduates, and faculty in and around campus, who will share their experiences with the system and their frontline work in the movement for justice within various disciplines.

The goal of this project is to better understand how food systems and traditional health care services can work together to support the needs of food-insecure families. The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) is a community health clinic located in the Central District of Seattle that provides low-income and predominately BIPOC families with free or low-cost medical, dental, mental health, and nutrition services.

As graduate students in the Division of Art History and future educators, researchers, and museum professionals, we believe that we must be attuned to questions of diversity and its implications on our field. The art historical canon encourages prioritization and hierarchies within scholarship and museum displays. We aim to create an inclusive and actively anti-racist art history, by seeking out, researching, and teaching the work of artists and scholars that are often left on the margins.

This project is co-led by a group of graduate Students of Color at UW, Kaleb Germinaro, Kayla Chui, Jessica Ramirez, and Dr. Shaneé Washington, a faculty member in the College of Education, who volunteer at various community learning spaces outside of schools. One of these spaces is Nurturing Roots, a 1/4-acre urban farm that dedicates itself to cultivating healthy food options by growing organic produce and engaging with community members through farm tours.

The aim of this project is to better understand how frontline communities define climate resilience and identify perceived factors that support or undermine resilience. Frontline communities are communities most affected by the impacts of climate change, and are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and lower-income compared to state averages.

This project utilizes the biannual UW Food Systems Seminar (NUTR 400/500) to support student learning and dialogue about food systems amidst the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, which together amplify the need for health and food equity. This seminar will showcase researchers and organizers working at the confluence of these pandemics for positive and impactful change. Sessions will highlight challenges as well as transformation, hope, and potential for resilience and equity to root across the food system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to nearly 14,000 confirmed cases and over 600 deaths in King County. Furthermore, people of color are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates in comparison to the white population. Washington State Governor Inslee issued the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, this mandate does not apply to custodians who are considered essential workers. To protect the health of the University of Washington Seattle Campus community, 259 custodial workers continue to work, cleaning and disinfecting various campus areas.