{"id":73584,"date":"2020-06-10T11:32:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T16:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?p=73584"},"modified":"2022-02-12T11:08:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T16:08:53","slug":"june-10-2020-a-day-to-shutdownstem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/2020\/06\/10\/june-10-2020-a-day-to-shutdownstem\/","title":{"rendered":"June 10, 2020 | A Day to #ShutDownSTEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear faculty and staff,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

I write this to share my perspective as a person of color and a professional.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>My opinion was solicited, and I share these sentiments with the utmost respect. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

By now you may be aware of the #ShutDownSTEM<\/strong><\/a> initiative, in response to the most recent murders of Black men and women in the U.S<\/span>. Many of you may be thinking that GMS\u2019s participation in the STEM shutdown event is not something within the realm of possibility because of the potential inconvenience it may pose.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>As a person of color, I can tell you that I don\u2019t have such privilege.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I stand firmly with the Black community to say that Black Lives Matter, and it saddens me to know that the reason I have to say it is because some find it an inconvenience to recognize this simple fact.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>It is not up for debate or rationalization. I matter. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>So, I don\u2019t have a choice but to keep fighting for this truth to be realized by all. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

As faculty, I believe we have a responsibility to our students to make a clear statement of solidarity.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>We put forth statements of diversity, equity, and inclusion that state that we believe in creating a welcoming environment for all.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I think it is imperative that we demonstrate these are more than words.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>This is a call to scientists and those in academia to stand by their words of inclusivity.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>This is an opportunity to transition the spoken narrative from the conditional (\u201cI would like to\u201d) to the actionable (\u201cI am doing something about the injustice\u201d). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I encourage us to look at the shutdown from the vantage point of opportunity rather than inconvenience.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 Our colleagues at MIT<\/strong><\/a> are a bold example of solidarity.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>On March 11th, we were all told to stop business as we knew it and transition to a completely remote learning platform.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Had we the privilege of debating our response as an institution, the suggestion to go remote would have probably seemed unfathomable, but we did it.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>We educated ourselves and came together for support. What I learned from this spring is that together we can do more than we ever thought could be possible for the good of the community.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I think we\u2019re being asked something quite similar, in my opinion. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Best,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Fadie<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Coleman, PhD
\nAssistant Professor, Department of Medical Sciences & Education
\nDirector, Biomedical Laboratory & Clinical Sciences Program
\nPronouns: She\/her\/hers
\n—
\nBU Profile: https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/profile\/fadie-coleman\/<\/a>
\nDiversity, Equity, & Inclusion: https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/students\/dei\/leadership\/<\/a>
\nBU-PREP: https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/students\/dei\/undergraduate-summer-and-youth-programs\/bu-prep\/<\/a>
\nNSF INCLUDES DDLP: Broadening Experience in Scientific Training \u2013 Beginning Enhancement Track (BEST BET)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear faculty and staff,\u00a0 I write this to share my perspective as a person of color and a professional.\u00a0 My opinion was solicited, and I share these sentiments with the utmost respect. \u00a0 By now you may be aware of the #ShutDownSTEM initiative, in response to the most recent murders of Black men and women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4614,"featured_media":73585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7167,7151,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4614"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73584"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73594,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73584\/revisions\/73594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}