In Epsilon Eta we believe that it is important to acknowledge, explore, and engage with diverse perspectives and the possibility of creating a more equitable and inclusive space for a broader range of people interested in professional careers in the environment. We are committed to the actions and attitudes required to make our space more accessible, inclusive, equitable, and diverse.
The Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is responsible for implementing various initiatives to strive towards principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This includes planning three chapters each semester, suggesting organizations to fundraise for and/or how to distribute fraternity funds, executing a social media campaign, and being mindful of social interactions, among other things.
This year, we created a new Executive Board position, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair, which oversees the brand new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and works closely with the rest of the Executive Board to ensure that member comfort and concerns are addressed consistently and effectively. The DEI Chair and DEI Committee focused heavily on adjusting fraternity events to be accessible for all, ensuring member safety is always top priority, advertising the community to a larger audience, and celebrating and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and perspectives we all hold within the community. With the help of the DEI VP, we also took the time to acknowledge and unpack unconscious biases, as well as came together to create a fraternity-wide list of values that we agreed to be most important for our organization. Additionally, DEI VP, Chair, and Committee reworked one of our most anticipated and loved annual events, Friendsgiving, to be a celebration and appreciation of the diverse cultures and backgrounds that our members come from by encouraging members to submit familial and cultural recipes to make for the potluck!
The DEI roles on E-Board and the DEI Committee still have work to do, though, and we are hoping to work on the promotion of consuming research and work done by underrepresented groups, transparency between the Executive Board and general membership, recruitment accessibility, engaging in more diverse and equity-based volunteering, creating comprehensive yearly DEI plans, integrating DEI into all EBoard positions, and–as always–ensuring the comfort of all members.