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Editor’s note: This is part of a series of updates on campuswide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that will continue throughout the year.

In this month's issue, read more about the campus’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day convocation, upcoming deadlines for submitting DEI Impact Grant applications and how to join an employee affinity group.

Save the date: MLK Day Convocation 2024

Students, staff, faculty and Boulder community members are invited to mark their calendars for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation 2024.

This signature campus event will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 22 in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the University Memorial Center, providing the campus and Boulder communities with opportunities to remember the legacy of the celebrated and influential civil rights leader. The convocation is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Center for African and African American Studies (the CAAAS) are sponsoring the convocation.

An announcement about the keynote speaker and other featured guests will become available over the next few weeks. The event’s themes will center on actualizing King’s vision of a “beloved community” in the current social climate, constructing an accurate historical understanding of King and the civil rights movement, placing his work in a contemporary context and articulating healing from intergenerational trauma.

The convocation is taking place a week after Colorado’s official public holiday honoring King on Jan. 15, when the campus will close for classes and most administrative business in alignment with closures by other public schools, universities and government offices.

Deadlines approaching for DEI Impact Grant funding

The deadlines to submit proposals for summer 2024 and the 2024–25 academic year DEI Impact Grants are fast approaching, and faculty and staff interested in submitting proposals for the seed grant funding are encouraged to do so in January and February.

Proposals for summer 2024 funding should be submitted by Jan. 16 and proposals for 2024–25 academic year funding should be submitted by Feb. 13.

Faculty and staff interested in learning more about the DEI Impact Grants and how to apply for them can also taking place from 11 a.m. to noon on Jan. 10 and 3–4 p.m. on Jan. 25.

Resources to support the development of seed grant proposals are available on the .

The DEI Impact Grant program is sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Inquiries, questions and requests for additional support may be sent to DEI Program and Assessment Manager Lynda Duran at lynda.duran@colorado.edu. 

See a list of funded proposals for summer 2023 and the 2023–24 academic year, as well as the related resources page.

Join an employee affinity group in the new year

Faculty and staff can participate in the campus’s employee affinity groups to build community with colleagues, peers and allies, share resources and benefit from training and professional development opportunities.

Through employee affinity groups, faculty and staff will meet regularly in a mutually supportive setting and advocate for policy changes and new programming. Other desired outcomes include supporting the recruitment and retention of historically minoritized groups and their allies.

The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sponsors the groups, providing guidance, funding access and programmatic assessments.

Employee affinity groups are independently established and sustained and are not part of the university’s formal governance structure, and each group determines its own scope and priorities, said David Humphrey, assistant vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, whose team leads programming support for the groups.

Visit the to obtain more information about joining an existing affinity group or starting a new one.