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CANR Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Posts

Dr. Melva L. Ware

Dr. Melva Ware spoke during a Cooperative Extension First Friday meeting on February 3, 2023.

Dr. Ware directed UD’s ASPIRE (Academic Support Program Inspiring Renaissance Educators), which supports access for members of underrepresented groups to University of Delaware degree programs, emphasizing preparing students for careers as teachers and educators. Her primary focus in her career at the Univesity was to focus on improving underrepresented minority and low-income students access to college, including students’ preparation.

She has written about social, political, and curricular factors that influence schooling outcomes for African Americans.

A recording of Dr. Ware’s candid and inspiring presentation is below.

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Dr. Robert Bullard

Often described as the father of environmental justice, Dr. Robert Bullard is a former Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School. He holds a PhD and is an award-winning author of 18 books. He is known for his work highlighting pollution in minority communities and speaking up against environmental racism in the 1970-1980s. 

In 2018, the Global Climate Action Summit named Dr. Bullard one of 22 Climate Trailblazers.  And in 2019, Apolitical named him one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy, Washington State University honored him with the William Julius Wilson Award for the Advancement of Justice and Climate One named him the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication.

In 2020, Bullard received the Champion of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award. The annual Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honor. It recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector.

In 2021, President Joe Biden named him to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC). And in 2022, University of California, Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly gave him its Environmental Leadership Award, Georgetown University awarded him an honorary doctorate and he was elected to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Find Dr. Bullard’s books on Good Reads

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February celebrates Black History Month

In 1915, in response to the lack of information on the accomplishments of Black people available to the public, historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.

In 1926, the group declared the second week of February as “Negro History Week” to recognize the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history. What was once a week-long event became a month-long celebration in 1976 when U.S. president Gerald Ford extended the recognition.

Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme.

The Black History Month 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” explores how “African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms and police killings,” since the nation’s earliest days. 

History.com

We acknowledge that Black History is more than one month, but it is important to pay homage to where we come from as we progress forward.

During February, the CANR DEI Committee will showcase a selection of Black innovators related to agriculture and the environment.

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