Dear, DSA,

I want to start by acknowledging a crucial step for diversity and inclusion with the election of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, making her America's first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president.

This is a tremendous milestone for our country and in fact, people around the world.

I am excited to announce that after much hard work the Diversity Council is rolling out its Implicit Bias Training for use by all DSA search committees. You can also find it on the DSA Diversity and Inclusion website. Each search committee will be required to watch the video at the start of their process, even if members have seen it previously. This training will provide tools to help adjust automatic patterns of thinking, and ultimately eliminate discriminatory behaviors.

I am grateful to the Diversity Council for its months-long efforts on this initiative. While this is an important step, it is one of many needed to continue our progress towards sustained diversity and inclusion for everyone.

Also, very happy to announce that today is Desiree Padron’s first day as director of the newly-formed First-Generation Center. Desiree is a UNT alumna and has spent the past 11 years as a member of our TRIO team. I look forward to her continued leadership for our first-generation students in this new role.

I hope you all can join the DSA Division Meeting this Wednesday at 10 a.m. 

Take care,
Elizabeth With, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs