There are two Tippie events next week that we want to mention. One is our last Monday Memoir of this semester, coming up this Monday, May 2nd, at 12:00 PM, featuring Julie Alexander.

The other event is our Tippie College Recognition Luncheon, coming up on Wednesday, May 4th, at 11:30 AM. Our Tippie DEI award winners for this year will be announced during the program.

Please see below for details on these events, as well as resources (such as the newly launched DEI history page), training opportunities (i.e. the new summer virtual cohorts BUILD program) and monthly events and observances.

We also want to include a quick reminder about today (Friday, April 29th). At 5:00 PM, the Anne Frank Tree Planting Ceremony will start on the Pentacrest. The UI will make a livestream of this event available as well.

Tippie Events

Tippie Monday Memoir – Monday, May 2nd  at 12:00 PM CDT
Our storyteller is Julie Alexander, who is a Lecturer in the Frank Business Communication Center. Julie is an alumna of the University of Colorado and received her BA with honors in Communication and Film Studies and her MA with high distinction in Communication and Media Studies. She has taught and worked as faculty and administrative staff at both 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions, and taught as an adjunct instructor for many years. She has also worked in the private sector for global organizations, including a Fortune 500 company, with a specialty in establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion in work environments and workforces. Julie’s areas of interest include communication, media, parasocial relationships, organizational behavior, and inclusive leadership. She has traveled to the United Kingdom, Thailand, China, Italy, Colombia, and France and she hopes to help other students have the ability to go abroad.

Please mark your calendars and join us on Zoom on Monday, May 2nd, at 12:00 PM CST.

Tippie College of Business Recognition Luncheon – Wednesday, May 4th at 11:30 AM, IMU 2nd floor Ballroom
Our Tippie College Business Recognition Luncheon, celebrating the accomplishments of Tippie faculty and staff, is taking place on Wednesday, May 4th in the IMU, 2nd floor Ballroom. Among other awards, our DEI award winners will also be announced at that time. Lunch is served at 11:30 AM and the program starts at 12:15 PM.

Mental Health Speaker Series- Thursday, May 5th at 1:00 PM.
The UI Mental Health Postvention Task Force invites you to their final First Thursdays - Mental Health Speaker Series presentation of the semester. Join us on Thursday, May 5 from 1 - 2 p.m. as campus experts share their insights, and provide resources and strategies for coping. 

Learn more and watch previous sessions on the Mental Health at Iowa website.

DEI Resources and Announcements

DEI HIstory
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Iowa has just launched a DEI history page, that highlights key moments in UI’s DEI history.

Campus Climate 2021
The UI DDEI released the 2021 Campus Climate Student Reports. The summary and detailed reports can be found here.

Take the 2022 Campus Climate Survey!
Campus Climate survey 2022 invitations are being emailed to all students, faculty, and staff between March 29 through May 28, 2022.  This is a great opportunity to inform UI leadership of your view of our campus climate to shape policy, programming, and financial commitments bettering the Hawkeye experience.

1stGen@Iowa Initiative
The First Generation Initiative at Iowa has a new website. The 1stGen@Iowa initiative seeks to inform and educate the campus community, support first-generation students in their academic and career endeavors, and ensure that students ultimately succeed at the University of Iowa.

Follow the 1stGen@Iowa initiative on social media too, on Instagram and Facebook.

1stGen@Iowa Mentor Network
The 1stGen@Iowa Mentor Network is an informal mentoring network that provides a space for first-gen students to ask questions and make useful connections. If you would like to become a 1stGen@Iowa Mentor, please check the 1stGen@Iowa Mentor Network page.

BUILD/BGC/DEI training opportunities

The Building University of Iowa Leadership for Diversity (BUILD) initiative is launching a new summer virtual cohorts program for UI faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students. This six-week series will support and challenge participants through the guided completion of their BUILD certificate. Participants will engage in 13 hours of training, including active discussions with fellow cohort members and a certified cultural intelligence coach. 

There are two cohort sections available:

Section 1: Tuesdays | May 17, 2022 – June 21, 2022, | 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Section 2: Thursdays | May 19, 2022 – June 23, 2022, | 8 a.m. – Noon

Registration will be open until Friday, April 29th at 11:59 p.m.  Click here to learn more about this program and to access the registration form.

May Events and Observances

May is National Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
The Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebrates the incredible journey of all AAPI immigrants and citizens in the United States and their unique life experiences, traditions and cultures. The AAPI umbrella term includes cultures from the entire Asian continent—including East, Southeast and South Asia—and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

May is Haitian Heritage Month
Haitian Heritage Month is a nationally recognized month and an opportunity for everyone to celebrate the rich culture, distinctive art, delicious food and learn the traditions of Haiti and its people. The celebration is an expansion of the Haitian Flag Day on May 18th, a major patriotic day celebration in Haiti and the Diaspora created to encourage patriotism.

May is Jewish-American Heritage Month
The Jewish-American Heritage Month celebrates the great role that Jewish people play in where America stands today on the world stage. May was chosen as the month of Jewish American Heritage Month because of the highly successful celebration of the 350th Anniversary of American Jewish history in May 2004.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May in the U.S. since 1949. Through the Covid pandemic, we have faced isolation, turmoil and unrest, and a growing number of Americans experienced mental health symptoms. The National Alliance on Mental Illness has put together a 2022 Awareness Event Guides to help raise awareness and get support for those affected during these challenging times.

May is South Asian Heritage Month
South Asian Heritage Month is the name given to the month-long celebration each May of the presence and heritage of people with roots in the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives.

May is Personal History Awareness Month
The month of May is set aside by personal historians as the month to generate awareness about the importance of personal history. During the month of May people are encouraged to take action in preserving their personal and/or family history, e.g., record or write the four main family events.

May is Speech and Hearing Awareness Month
Each May provides an opportunity to raise awareness about hearing and speech problems, and to encourage people to think about their own hearing and get their hearing checked. For 2022, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) designated the theme for Better Hearing and Speech Month as “Connecting People.”

May is Older Americans Month
Every year, May is the month designated to encourage and recognize the countless contributions that older adults make to our communities. The 2022 theme is Age My Way. Try some of the activity ideas to help you celebrate Older Americans Month in your community!

May Day – May 1st
May Day is celebrated in many European countries in different form of festivals marking the arrival of summer and the fertility of the upcoming year. The origins of May Day start with the Gaelic festival of Beltane. In some countries, the traditional festivities, start the night before (Walpurgis night) and then continue with parties, dances, bonfires and wrapping of the Maibaum (Maypole).

International Workers Day – May 1st
This day commemorates the historic struggles and gains made by workers and the labor movement. In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the U.S. and Canada stated that May 1st, 1886 would mark the start of an 8-hour workday. In 1889, an international organization for workers and socialists in Paris declared May 1st as International Workers’ Day. While most countries around the world celebrate on May 1st, the United States and Canada hold their Labor Day on the first Monday in September.

Eid Al Fitr – May 1st – 2nd
Eid al-Fitr, is the first of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. The religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide and it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.

National Teacher Appreciation Day – May 3rd
National Teacher Day is observed on the first Tuesday of the first full week of May and recognizes dedicated educators across the country. The National Education Association describes this event as “a day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives”.

Star Wars Day – May 4th
A galaxy far, far away is celebrated on Star Wars Day, with news, videos, blogs, crafts, recipes and more. May the 4th Be With You!

Cinco de Mayo  – May 5th
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, which tends to be a popular misconception. In 1861, Benito Juárez—a lawyer and member of the Indigenous Zapotec tribe—was elected president of Mexico.

Birthday of the Buddha – May 8th
Buddha's Birthday is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of East Asia and South Asia commemorating the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism. Try meditation to celebrate Buddha’s birthday!

Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who Lost their Lives during WWII – May 8th – 9th
By resolution 59/26 of 22 November 2004, the UN General Assembly declared 8–9 May as a time of remembrance and reconciliation and, while recognizing that Member States may have individual days of victory, liberation and commemoration, invited all Member States, organizations of the United Nations System, non-governmental organizations and individuals to observe annually either one or both of these days in an appropriate manner to pay tribute to all victims of World War II.

Europe Day – May 9th
Europe Day held on 9 May every year celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic 'Schuman declaration' that set out the idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe's nations unthinkable. Schuman's proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.

Peace Officers Memorial Day  – May 15th
In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15th falls as National Police Week. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., features the names of more than 22,000 law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -  May 17th
The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by the LGBTQI+ community. The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development -  May 21st
In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

International Day for Biological Diversity -  May 22nd
The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 as International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The theme in 2022 is “Building a shared future for all life”. From ecosystem-based approaches to climate and/or nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better.

Declaration of the Bab – May 23rd
Every year during the evening of May 22nd and the day of May 23rd, Baha’s celebrate the Declaration of the Bab. The Bahá’í Era began in the hour before sunset on May 22nd, 1844, when the Bab announced that he was a messenger of God and foretold the coming of another messenger of God in the near future. The event took place in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran).

Ascension Day – May 26th
The Feast of Ascension is a Christian holiday that marks the 40th day following Easter when Jesus ascended into Heaven. Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar for calculating this date, while many Eastern Orthodox Churches calculate this date according to the Julian calendar, which results in the Ascension celebrations occurring a week later, on June 2nd.

World Hunger Day – May 28th
World Hunger Day is an initiative that was created in 2011 by The Hunger Project, a non-profit organization that works towards ending world hunger. The aim of this day is to raise “awareness to the more than 820 million people living in chronic hunger”.

Ascension of Bahau'llah– May 29th
From the evening of May 28, 2019 through May 29, 2019, Bahá’ís around the world will celebrate the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of the death of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Baha’u’llah was seventy-five years old when he passed away on May 29, 1892.

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -  May 29th
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, offers a chance to pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian personnel’s invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honor more than 4,000 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948 The theme for this year’s Day is "The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security."

Memorial Day - May 30th
Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.