DEI Message from Vice Chancellor Chia Youyee Vang
As a tenured professor with many years of teaching experience and research projects across multiple continents, I am honored to serve the diverse community at UWM in this role. I chose a career in higher education because I believe in its power to address societal issues and contribute to the building of a more just world. Our country continues to confront deep racial, social, political and cultural divisions. Many on our campus have come together and worked collectively to address these challenges. We have had conversations and taken concrete steps to make systemic changes and eliminate barriers to student and employee success, but we are not where we need to be.
So, what does DEI mean to me? The difficult realities we face require we all join together in building a campus environment where everyone can thrive. I advance efforts to create a civil campus culture that practices and teaches respect for every individual, regardless of visible or invisible characteristics. I am committed to fostering a sense of belonging for students and employees, as well as guests from the larger community who visit the campus. This entails creating space for diversity of thought, exercised through our freedom of expression, to provide a broad understanding of our world without the marginalization of any group. I invite you to read highlights from our recent annual reports.