- Mailing Address
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260 Aldrich Hall
Irvine, California 92697 - Phone
- (949) 824-6703
- Email address
- admissions@uci.edu
- Website
- https://uci.edu/
- School Information
- "In 1965, the University of California, Irvine was founded with a mission to catalyze the community and enhance lives through rigorous academics, cutting-edge research, and dedicated public service. Today, we draw on the unyielding spirit of our pioneering faculty, staff and students who arrived on campus with a dream to inspire change and generate new ideas. We believe that true progress is made when different perspectives come together to advance our understanding of the world around us. And we enlighten our communities and point the way to a better future. At UCI, we shine brighter" (Source: https://uci.edu/about/). UCI has a total enrollment of over 37,000 students and has a student to faculty ratio of 18 to 1. The university offers 87 bachelor's degrees, 84 master's degrees, and 53 doctorates.
- General Information
- Recently, UCI has responded to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery with the creation of numerous initiatives. These include the End Racism Initiative, the Black Thriving Initiative, and numerous training programs. UCI calls upon all students, faculty, and staff to make a pledge against "anti-Blackness" and encourages the campus community to complete an Inclusive Excellence Certificate Program. All UCIPD officers and staff are required to complete the certificate and certain groups leaders are required to undergo anti-racism training. While anti-racism and Critical Race training is offered, it is not required of all students at this time. However, see developments below:
Actions Taken
- Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
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Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery, UCI created the End Racism Initiative in June 2020. This initiative requires the training of all work group leaders regarding topics of "systemic racism," effective 2021.
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UCI offers numerous training for implicit bias, anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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- Program and Research Funding
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Within the Black Thriving Initiative, the Inclusive Excellence Term Chair Program awards $30,000 annually for researchers "advancing the Black experience and serving as drivers of well being for UCI and external community members."
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In 2020, UCI began "investing in student achievement and honoring Black faculty" through numerous programs.
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The UCI School of Social Sciences created a Black Lives Matter Research Scholarship.
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The Paul Merage School of Business launched the Black Management Association BMA for Students and Alumni. The school also created a scholarship for Black business students.
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Since the establishment of the UC-Historical Black Universities and Colleges Initiative grants in 2011, UCI has been awarded 11 grants. In 2021, the UC-HBCU grant of $600,000 for three recurring years in order to support 30 students.
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UCI awarded researchers the Spencer Foundation Racial Equity Special Research Grant in June 2021.
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The Department of Materials Science and Engineering created the Anti-Racism Work Group for 2021-2022.
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- Re-Imagining Policing
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The UCI Police Department made a Campus Commitment to Inclusive Excellence by "communicating campus expectations that all sworn officers promote equity, diversity and inclusion in serving the community." Every member of UCIPD must complete the Inclusive Excellence Certificate Program.
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- Resources
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UCI provides numerous resources and definitions for anti-racism and related terms. Ibram X. Kendi's book, "How to Be an Anti-Racist," is a recommended reading.
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The UCI Black Thriving Initiative "recognizes and responds to anti-Blackness as an existential threat to our mission as public research university" and holds numerous events and programs to discuss anti-Blackness. The Black Thriving Institute also explores "how anti-Blackness, racial justice and slavery implicate and shape human histories, contemporary realities and futures of nation-states, cultures and communities, and people within and in relation to the African diaspora."
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In 2020, UCI created an External Advisory Board to look after the affairs of the Black Thriving Initiative and the Office of Inclusive Excellence Speakers Bureau.
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UCI has an Academic Excellence Black Scholars House which is a first-year residential experience that supports diverse students.
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The UCI Counseling Center offers numerous resources for "racial trauma."
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The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation has an "Anti-Racist Pedagogy Reading List." UCI also provides a list of anti-racism books from UCI Law, and the UCI Library hosts an "eBook Collection on Understanding and Combating Racism" in addition to a media series of "Anti-Racism Films." Additionally, the Office of Inclusive Excellence provides resources for microaggressions and UCI Student Affairs provides staff with resources on how to "combat anti-Black racism."
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The UCI Sustainability Resource Center made a statement in solidarity "with the movement for Black lives" by saying, "We emphatically condemn the continued killing and harassment of Black folks by police departments and a culture of white supremacy across the nation." The center provided resources in conjunction with this statement to further its mission.
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- Symbolic Actions
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UCI is #CallingAllAnteaters to take the pledge against "anti-Blackness," "anti-Black micro- and macro-aggressions," and "unconscious and conscious acts of bias, prejudice, and bigotry."
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UCI's Writing Center hosts an annual Black Lives Matter Writing Contest. The 2021 contest has a theme of "A Call for Accountability: Reassessing How We Care for Black Womxn."
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UCI appointed a new Director of Diversity Initiatives in the School of Biological Sciences.
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On June 7, 2021, UCI named a stretch of road near campus "Michael Drake Drive" after the former chancellor emeritus.
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The Office of Inclusive Excellence and the president have made numerous statements of solidarity and support for events surrounding Juneteenth, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright, among many others.
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The UCI Medical Scientist Training Program committed to "encouraging discussions around anti-racism, health disparities, and bias in STEM through a journal club and annual workshops" and "evaluating program climate periodically to ensure all students feel a part of the community and are being heard."
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On January 27, 2023, the school's Graduate Division (via Twitter) shared a message from UC President Drake regarding the death of Tyre Nichols, which stated "It is yet another painful reminder of the constant flow of systemic racism and injustice that communities of color continue to endure."
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