Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI)
Our Commitment
While Alpha Omega Epsilon remains focused on our core mission and vision as a STEM organization, it absolutely includes a commitment to a safe and non-discriminating environment. As part of our call to fight systemic racism, we are committed to make change happen from within our sisterhood/membership. To that end, we have committed to the following:
- To be allies to the Black community and provide resources to our sisters/members on how to help support the Black Lives Matter movement with the aim of stopping systemic racism, prejudice, and inequality
- To listen to our members’ ideas of how to improve our sisterhood/membership and to enact programs which will help our Sorority be more supportive to our BIPOC sisters/members
- To organize and deliver diversity and inclusion training to our sisterhood/membership, starting with the Board of Directors, with the aim of not only educating our members, but also increasing the diversity within our organization and empowering individuals to take more leadership roles within our organization
- To actively recruit and onboard persons of color as international volunteers
- To facilitate open, honest, and supportive conversations between our sisters/members around the topics of cultural awareness, bias, and privilege
- To work together to uplift those underrepresented in STEM fields by sponsoring scholarships, actively leading STEM programs at underfunded K-12 schools, and applying for grants to bring STEM programming to underserved communities
Our work has just begun and we cannot implement all of our goals overnight, but we know with the love and support of our sisters we are capable of anything.
To Our Sisters/Members
We have heard from many in our sorority through direct conversations, social media messages, video, and written petitions sharing your calls to action and demanding that we do more. We have heard you and we want to continue to hear from you!
Silence is not the answer. We believe silence is a stance, and not the right one. We want to educate ourselves, our sisters/members, and our community. We want to be an ally for change.
Historically, our organization has been composed of white women as our members and leaders. Over the years our organization has grown significantly in its diversity. We are proud to have sisters/members of color in the organization, but overall, there is a lack of understanding within our organization regarding the Black women and women of color experiences in STEM. We promise to listen to these experiences and take actions to educate our sisterhood/membership. We will continue to learn from our sisters/members and seek to uphold our values, ideals, and objectives in our actions and our words. Out of love for our BIPOC sisters, we are willing to make mistakes, learn from them, and try to correct them. We care, we support you, and we will do better.
We’ve recently established a new committee within Alpha Omega Epsilon called the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. We are very thrilled that many passionate sisters/members have agreed to serve on this committee to help the sorority in uplifting our sisters/members, educating our sisterhood/membership, and providing the best resources to support you in raising your voices for equity, diversity, and inclusion within our sisterhood. If you have any ideas/resources you’d like to be shared with our sisterhood/membership, please email EDI@alphaomegaepsilon.org.