*The original artwork for this logo was created by David Dennis. It was modified for DEIC purposes by Cynthia J. Hitchcock with approval of the SSAR BoD and David Dennis.
Name: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC)
Committee Type: Standing Committee
Current members (as of June 2024): Jennifer M. Deitloff (co-chair), Robert E. Espinoza (co-chair), Jessica L. Tingle (co-chair), Itzue Caviedes-Solis, Ryan Hanscom, Fausto Mendez de la Cruz, Ann V. Paterson, Himidu Pitigala, Phillip Skipwith, Anna Thonis, and Sidney Woodruff.
Charge: The charge of the DEIC is to identify, promote, and implement strategies that recruit, support, sustain, and engage a diverse membership in SSAR. While diversity is essential, it is not sufficient. The DEIC also supports equity and inclusion as foundational and pervasive principles that should be infused into all Society matters, including but not limited to SSAR governance, participation in annual meetings, and publishing in our journals. Here, diversity is defined as all facets of human identity—be they based on biology, social constructs, life experiences, etc.—such as: race, ethnicity, creed, color, sex/sexual identity, gender/gender identity, age, (dis)ability, national origin, language, culture, military/veteran status, socio-economic status, political perspective, religion/spirituality, etc. Likewise, equity refers to practices and policies that enable all members to participate in, and similarly experience, all SSAR-associated endeavors. Note equity is different from equality, insofar as the latter assumes everyone’s experiences are the same, whereas the former acknowledges the structural inequities (historical and current) that advantage some groups while disadvantaging others. Finally, the purpose of inclusion is to engender a sense of belonging and respect for all members by providing fair and just opportunities to fully participate and achieve their potential in Society matters.
The DEIC shall engage the Board of Directors on substantive matters, such as those that may require changes to bylaws, traditional practices, official statements, and initiatives with financial or broader implications for the Society, and with the chairs of other SSAR standing committees as appropriate.
For a list of actions SSAR has taken to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, please visit this page: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-actions-to-promote-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/
If you’d like to submit feedback for the committee’s consideration, please visit this page: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-feedback-form/