In 2020, we were witnesses and participants in profound discussions of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Mara Lopez graduated from her undergraduate program without being taught how to write a resume or cover letter. Now, as a doctoral student, she wants to devote her career to make sure underrepresented undergraduate students are better prepared for their future.

The Graduate College kicked off the 2021 Building Networked Communities Summer Workshop series with a webinar focused on creating student-centered, antiracist approaches to graduate program handbooks. 

Niveditha Muthukrishnan traveled to ASU all the way from Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu in India to pursue her PhD for three reasons. 

For one, you can’t beat the weather in Arizona. 

“I come from a place that’s extremely hot and I wasn’t ready to shovel snow,” Muthukrishnan laughed. 

The second reason is the diversity of the student and faculty population at ASU. 

Diversity statements aren’t just for organizations or for faculty job postings. Many law schools and some graduate programs may ask applicants to provide a short statement about their personal background and potential contributions to the school or program.  

Students can feel stymied by these prompts - especially if they are optional - but these can provide a great opportunity to showcase your individuality and contributions to your future program. 

Applications are now open for the Graduate College’s new round of Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight Grants. 

The first round of $100 grants were awarded in November to 10 students who developed innovative ways to continue and expand their research despite setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This round, the Knowledge Mobilization Initiative is seeking graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to share their innovations related to recent developments and discussions concerning social justice.    

Being an engineer has always made sense for Katreena Thomas. She has always been good at math and science, her mother encouraged her to pursue engineering by enrolling her in STEM camps and classes, and she always loved the idea of being a problem solver.  

However, during her undergraduate education, and in subsequent years working in the engineering field, Thomas learned that there are “problems that can't be solved with math and science because they are problems about people.” 

In response to events surrounding the deaths of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, ASU President Michael Crow published a 25-point plan to address diversity concerns at the university. One of those points includes a new postdoc fellowship program for people of color at ASU.

Over the past several months, the Graduate College has conducted a series of listening sessions with a large and diverse sample of graduate students and faculty communities. These sessions allowed us to observe how diversity aids this generation’s resiliency. As deans, we find ourselves in awe of the resiliency ASU graduate students have demonstrated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. 

Crafting a Diversity Statement

Many graduate students preparing for career entry understand the importance of a well-crafted teaching philosophy or research statement. In last week’s Grad15 mini-webinar, Graduate Student Support Resources director Amanda Athey shared some tips and strategies on creating another piece in your job-hunting arsenal: the diversity statement.

If you’re a graduate student looking to connect and create community around common identities and interests, join a mentoring circle!

The Graduate College is piloting a new group mentoring experience. "Circles" are peer-driven mentoring groups available to students looking for community and support within shared academic and cultural identities.

Mentoring circles supporting the following identity-based communities are launching now: