We have had several exciting diversity and inclusion events in the last couple of weeks. OPT III and OPT IV students completed mandatory implicit bias training, and we welcome any questions or follow-up comments. We completed IDOC (July 13, 16, 20, and 23), which is a program to increase diversity in optometry. Jen Bennett, Shawn Gilbert, and I had been excitedly anticipating this year’s program, and I am happy to report that it went extremely well. There is a lot of good energy in this group of 39 perspective students and I am grateful for the college’s support in these important recruitment efforts. We also completed our book club discussions with both students as well as faculty/staff on “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. If you haven’t read the book, it is not too late! The students who participated would like another opportunity to discuss the book later this fall. I will be in touch later with more details. I hope that this was just the first of many opportunities to learn together and engage in dialogue about race, diversity, inclusion and social justice.
