UCI End Racism Initiative (ERI) is a grassroots collective started in June 2020 when we were reminded that systemic anti-Black racism is a persistent, pervasive, and lethal issue that plagues our society.
The senseless murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others remind us that we still have a long way to go to ensure that our society ceases to dehumanize and abuse Black people and instead treats Black lives with equal respect.
A grassroots movement emerged on the UCI campus – a movement to dismantle systemic racism at UCI and beyond. It started with a virtual presentation and discussion on June 9, 2020, with graduate students from the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) —Angeline Dukes, Elena Dominguez— and UCI Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Autumn Ivy titled, Becoming Anti-Racist: A Conversation on Being a Better Advisor, Labmate, and Friend.
The following day, June 10, 2020, the CNLM hosted campus-wide virtual town hall to discuss Dismantling Systemic Racism in Stem. More than 430 people participated in the event. What emerged was call to form working groups to address systemic racism in six key areas.
On July 21, 2020, the movement extended to a campus-wide discussion on the working group process and strategic planning.
Since then more than 250 faculty, staff, students, and community members have signed up to roll up their sleeves and put together campus-wide recommendations on ending systemic racism at UCI. Find out more.
The ERI is now in its second phase and its scope has expanded to include examining all forms of racism and discrimination on campus and beyond. Our mailing list has close to 1500 campus community members and we continue to host and facilitate dialogue around these important topics, in addition to working together to craft guidelines and recommendations for improving campus climate.
The ERI does not have a formal leadership structure, and is not subject to UCI campus oversight. It is managed by a volunteer Steering Committee.