Leverage the Mission
Harness Research and Teaching to Accelerate the Understanding of the Black Experience and Drivers of Well-Being
The pervasiveness of anti-Blackness in society demands the attention of the entire research and creative enterprise of the university. This imperative requires a comprehensive approach to advancing the understanding of the Black experience and the drivers of well-being for this population. It relies on the existing infrastructure while purposefully leveraging institutional resources to fundamentally understand and accelerate change. To this end, the campus will elevate attention, intensify effort, and disseminate knowledge and creative expressions that refute anti-Blackness, promote innovative public policy solutions to structural racism, and yield practical benefits to Black communities locally, regionally and nationally. Below are campus initiatives in support of this ambitious imperative.
UCI Black Thriving Initiative Faculty Cluster Hiring Program
Inclusive Excellence Term Chairs
The Inclusive Excellence Term Chairs is part of the UCI Black Thriving Initiative with aims to leverage the research and creative capacity of the campus in order to deepen understanding about and responses to a designated national imperative.
Each selected awardee will receive $30,000 annually for three years to support research, teaching, and service activities that advance the program theme. These individuals also submit annual Use Reports to the Office of Inclusive Excellence, deliver a public lecture in the program series, participate in a campus hosted conference. These awardees also consult with the Office of Inclusive Excellence on the Inclusive Excellence Action Plan to develop and enact programmatic activities consistent with the requirements of the Inclusive Excellence Term Chairs Program.
Black Thriving Institute: Anti-Blackness, Racial Justice and Slavery
The purpose of the Black Thriving Institute is to harness the research and creative capacity of the campus to advance transformational change. Organized around anti-Blackness, racial justice and slavery, the Institute will support interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary activity to both understand the Black experience and promote the drivers of well-being in Black communities.
Mobilizing the whole university to promote Black student success, degree completion, and advancement in UCI’s academic programs
The transformation of the professoriate and knowledge workforce of the future depends on the success of Black undergraduates and graduate students thriving in academic programs across the campus. This means increasing total enrollments, growing participation in undergraduate and graduate degrees programs, expanding involvement in high impact campus programs, and eliminating differences in undergraduate graduation or graduate degree completion rates.