ODEI Spotlight:
Projects for Progress, Two Years In
In 2021, three Projects for Progress (P4P) teams set out to improve the quality of life in West Philadelphia: one by addressing the primary care needs of homeless and underserved people, one by revamping the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center, and one by addressing the COVID-induced learning gap in elementary school students and educators. An Oct. 17 event celebrated the work of these teams and their 2022 counterparts. Six P4P groups have received awards since the initiative’s inception. Read More
LGBT Center by the Numbers
This year, Penn’s LGBT Center celebrates its 40th anniversary. The Center is the second oldest of its kind in the country, with its founding director, the late Robert Schoenberg, originally working out of the Student Activities office in Houston Hall. The Center’s current home in the historic Robert Schoenberg Carriage House tucked away off Spruce Street was made possible through a gift from David Goodhand and Vincent Griski, both class of 1985. Read More
Bolstering Environmental Education in Cobbs Creek
For the last year, with support from a Projects for Progress (P4P) award, a team from Penn has collaborated with Center staff and the Cobbs Creek community to enhance resources to support similar learning opportunities at the CCCEC. Their goal is to promote equitable access to STEM education for residents of the Cobbs Creek neighborhood. “Now more than ever, our society understands the value of green spaces and of STEM education, and the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center provides both for West Philadelphia families and students,” says President Liz Magill. Read More
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dedicates New Suite to Foundational Figures
On December 3rd, 2021, ODEI cut the ribbon on its new suite in the Towne Building, featuring a conference room and study space dedicated to two of its foundational figures: Ms. Cora Ingrum, ODEI’s former Director, and Ms. Donna Hampton, the office’s longtime administrative assistant. Read More
Putting Community First, in a New Social Justice Initiative
The Community Collaboratory for Co-Creation, led by Penn Nursing and Penn Engineering, will focus on research, education, and community engagement and outreach. The first three years of the new initiative, which officially began in October, will focus on research, education, and community engagement and outreach. Read More
Project Maji: 2021 Penn Engagement Prize Winner Will Provide Innovative Water Solution to Aid Refugees in Uganda
Team Maji consists of Leah Voytovitch, a daughter of former Soviet Union refugees, and Martin Leet, a refugee who lived in a camp in Kenya before arriving at Penn. Both students have graduated from Penn and are now in the program implementation phase of the project at the Olua I refugee camp in Uganda. Residents of this refugee camp, like many others, lack access to clean drinking water and Project Maji aims to provide this necessity. Read More
Breaking Ground at Penn’s Cutting-edge Data Science Hub
On Friday, October 8, invited guests and members of the Penn community celebrated the groundbreaking of Penn Engineering’s new data science building and the unveiling of its official name, Amy Gutmann Hall. The event was presided over by President Gutmann, naming donor Harlan Stone, Nemirovsky Family Dean Vijay Kumar, and Penn Engineering Board Chair Rob Stavis. The 116,000-square-foot, six-floor building, located on the northeast corner of 34th and Chestnut Streets near Lauder College House, will centralize resources for researchers and scholars across Penn’s 12 schools and numerous academic centers while making the tools of data analysis more accessible to the entire Penn community. Read More
ODEI and RAS Welcome New URM Graduate Students to Penn Engineering
Penn Engineering’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Research and Academic Services (RAS) Graduate Office welcomed new Under-Represented Minority (URM) graduate students with special events to kick off the Fall 2021 semester. View Story
Events of Interest
ODEI Events + Programming Spotlight:
Penn Engineering's Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Penn Compact 2022 affirms Inclusion as a means toward the essential ends of higher education: equalizing opportunity, educating leaders for all sectors of society, and enriching the experience of all members of the University community. Penn Engineering remains strongly committed to initiatives that support the University’s efforts to achieve an educational and employment environment that is diverse in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, interests, abilities and perspectives. We strive to attract a diverse community of students and faculty, to provide an accessible, rigorous engineering education, and to improve our local and global communities through engineering.
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