Diversity and Inclusion
To be fully engaged in the Dornsife School of Public Health and in order to do our best work, each individual in our community must be seen wholly, included and valued.
We strive to build and nurture an institutional culture where inclusiveness across race, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, immigrant status and ability, is a core value and where difference is respected.
We acknowledge and encourage each individual to bring their whole self to our work in order to sustain our very best public health teaching, practice and research.
By valuing diversity and inclusion, we collectively foster our vision of health as a human right, and advance our goals of eliminating health disparities and improving health in cities.
In this section:
Action Plan to Enhance Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Anti-Racism
Who We Are: Demographics of Dornsife Students, Faculty, and Staff
Messages and News from the Dornsife School of Public Health
The recipient of Drexel Dornsife's 2024 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Award was the Latino Health Collective led by Ana Martinez-Donate, PhD, Professor, Community Health & Prevention, and Mariana Lazo, MD, PhD, ScM, Associate Research Professor, Community Health & Prevention. This award recognizes a team of faculty, staff and students who strive to build and nurture an institutional culture where inclusiveness is a core value, collectively foster our vision of health as a human right, and advance our goals of eliminating health disparities and improving health in cities. (4/3/24).
Reneé H Moore, PhD, Rory Schonning, MS, and Jordan Wilson, MPH, presented their case study on the Dornsife's IDEA Fellows program, Student Engagement in DEIB Work, at the 2024 ASPPH Annual Meeting (3/21/24).
Meet the 2023-24 cohort of IDEA Fellows, dated 12/1/23.
Reneé H. Moore, PhD, research professor in the department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Biostatistics Scientific Collaboration Center (BSC), has taken on the role of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. In this role, Dr. Moore will develop a vision and strategy for a School Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging that will continue to advance our School Action Plan and build and expand on the great work led by Scarlett Bellamy, ScD, and the Taskforce. Learn more about Dr. Moore (5/01/23)
Read the AmStat News article Recognizing Academic Departments for JEDI Efforts, dated 12/1/22, which recognizes Dornsife's Epidemiology and Biostatistics department for its efforts to "embed justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) into [the department's] development and growth." The article includes a Q&A with Reneé H. Moore, PhD, and Leslie McClure, PhD.
Meet the 2022-23 cohort of IDEA Fellows, dated 11/9/22.
Read Dornsife's 2022 Action Plan Progress Report on key activities completed or progress, along with plans for future sustainability, dated 8/19/22.
Read Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Dornsife Grant to Transform Academia for Equity, dated 3/31/22.
Dornsife's new Anti-Racism Research Series will engage as many perspectives as possible from all educational levels at the School. Learn more about the first event on Friday, 2/18/22.
Read NIH Awards Drexel University $14.4 Million for Health Disparities Research, dated 10/14/21. Learn more about the FIRST Initiative.
Read Reflecting on Dornsife’s Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Anti-Racism for an update on the school's action plan. Faculty, staff and students who have been involved in our efforts share highlights and envision the work ahead, dated 6/30/21.
Read Drexel Names New Center on Racism and Health, Center Director about Dornsife's The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity, dated 5/20/21. Learn more about The Ubuntu Center.
Read a message to the Dornsife community regarding events in Georgia from Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, Dean and Distinguished University Professor of Epidemiology and Scarlett Bellamy, ScD, Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, dated 3/18/21.
Read about the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Graduate Fellowship at Dornsife, dated 12/16/20.
Read about a gift from Drexel University alumna Dana Dornsife and her husband David to help launch a new Center on Racism and Health and recruit and retain faculty experts on racial inequities in health equity at the Dornsife School of Public Health, dated 12/2/20.
Read a message from Dornsife's Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice on the police violence which took the life of Walter Wallace Jr., dated 11/2/20.
Read Dornsife Stands in Solidarity With Those Demanding Justice, a statement from Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, Dean and Distinguished University Professor of Epidemiology and Scarlett Bellamy, ScD, Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, dated 6/8/20.
Read a message to the Dornsife community from Dean Diez Roux, dated 6/5/20.
Racism and Public Health Resources
Dornsife Webinar Series: "Racism and Health: Evidence and Action": This series was an opportunity to hear from public health researchers who are focused on improving population health and eliminating health disparities. Watch past lectures.
ASPPH Statement on SCOTUS Decision on Race in Higher Education Admissions
Racism is a Public Health Crisis (ASPPH statement)
The Impact of Hate on Public Health (Huffington Post)
Racism and Health (APHA)
Racism and Health: Evidence and Needed Research (Annual Reviews)
Community Resources for Talking about Race
Below is a selected list of resources you might find useful. We view this as a living document and it is by no means all-inclusive. If you have others to add, please let us know.
Finally, these resources are not the end, but the start of understanding, growth and meaningful conversations.
An Antiracist Reading List (New York Times)
Anti-racism Resources (Google doc)
Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources (Google doc)
Talking about Race (web portal from the National Museum of African American History & Culture)
Stop Lecturing Black People (Medium)
Resource List from ParticlesForJustice.org
Resources for individuals with children
Talking to Kids About Race (National Geographic)
Talking Race With Young Children (NPR)
Talking to Children After Racial Incidents (Medium)
A Kids' Book About Racism (A Kids Book About)
Build Your Stack: Affirming Black Boys Outside the Context of Police Brutality (National Council of Teachers of English)
Children's Book Resources to Support Conversations on Race, Racism and Resistance (Embrace Race)
Action items
Dornsife's Center for Hunger-Free Communities compiled a list of action items. The page also includes a list of policies changes which, if enacted, could look toward more meaningful and sustainable change.
Know your rights. The ACLU has resources by issue, including rights if stopped by police and the right be free from
discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or national origin. The ACLU of Pennsylvania also has a handout on your right to take photographs and make video and audio recordings (pdf).
Organizations to follow
Color of Change
Black Lives Matter
Movement Hub
NAACP
Stop AAPI Hate
Showing Up for Racial Justice
United We Dream
Podcasts
A reading list: housing segregation, mass incarceration, ahistoricism, education bias, voter suppression, and everything in between
- A Different Mirror (Ronald Takaki)
- A People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn)
- Ain’t I a Woman (Bell Hooks Assata by Assata Shakur)
- Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
- Blackballed (Darryl Pinckney)
- Dying of Whiteness (Jonathan Metzl)
- Evicted (Matthew Desmond)
- Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Adichie)
- How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram Kendi)
- How We Get Free (Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Killing)
- Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson)
- Rage (Bell Hooks)
- Lies My Teacher Told Me (James Loewen)
- Nobody (Marc Lamont Hil)
- Rage (Bell Hooks)
- So You Want to Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
- Stamped From the Beginning (Ibram Kendi)
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)
- The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
- The Burning House (Anders Walker)
- The Color of Law (Richard Rothstein)
- The Condemnation of Blackness (Khalil Muhammad)
- The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas)
- The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
- The Warmth of the Sun (Isabel Wilkerson)
- White Fragility (Robin Diangelo)
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting (Beverly Tatum)
University Mental Health and Support Resources
The School is committed to supporting the wellness of our students, working to address concerns shared by student leaders, and empowering our students to become self-directed professionals. We encourage you to connect with one of the support resources below, if they meet your current needs.
Faculty and professional staff can contact the Employee Assistance Program.
Drexel University encourages anyone who has been affected by or witnessed discrimination, harassment or bias to immediately report the incident to the Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture by calling 215.895.1405 or emailing EIC@drexel.edu at any time.