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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coalition

Founded in 2020, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Coalition at Indiana University School of Medicine strives to enhance the school's efforts to increase representational diversity, improve the academic learning environment, and provide high-quality training in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice for our medical students through an alliance of student leadership from organizations supported by the Office of Diversity Affairs.

These affinity organizations include Alliance, American Medical Women's Association (AMWA), Asian Pacific American, Medical Student Association (APAMSA), Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) and Student National Medical Association (SNMA).

The DEI Coalition at IU School of Medicine seeks to encourage, enable, and empower the community on schoolwide diversity initiatives through recommendations, projects, events and activities in areas including but not limited to:

  • recruitment, retention, and promotion

  • campus climate

  • academic curriculum

  • DEI training

  • community engagement

  • collaboration and fundraising

  • social media and communications

Email the DEI Coalition

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Follow the DEI coalition

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Executive Board

portrait of aonesti williams

Aonesti Williams

Chair

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Khang Phan

Vice President of Administrative Affairs

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Margaret Bellow

VP of DEI Training

portrait of josephine pyles

Josephine Pyles

VP of Recruitment, Retention and Promotion

portrait of jordan finch

Jordan Finch

VP of Recruitment, Retention and Promotion

portrait of keyana foster

Keyana Foster

VP of Recruitment, Retention and Promotion

portrait of mia ndama

Mia Ndama

VP of Academic Curriculum

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Precious Okoruwa

VP of Collaboration and Finance

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Meera Patel

VP of Community Engagement

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Ethel Okonjo

VP of Social Media and Communications

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Jay Chopra

VP of Social Media and Communications

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Nicole Libiran

Secretary

15690-Tori, Alvaro

Alvaro J. Tori, MD

Faculty Advisor

MD Student News

DEI Coalition amplifies student voices at IU School of Medicine

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coalition at IU School of Medicine supports medical students from minoritized groups and demonstrates how powerful student voices can be in creating institutional change.

Laura Gates  |  Sep 12, 2022

Get Involved

Apply to join the DEI Coalition during Spring or Fall Interview Day. To be eligible, you must be a member of one or more of the established affinity organizations, and in good academic standing. 

Join a DEI Coalition subcommittee! We have many subcommittees revolving around recruitment, retention, and promotions; DEI training; academic curriculum; community engagement; and collaboration and finance.

Join a subcommittee

IU School of Medicine resources

  • Mistreatment

    Per the Association of American Medical Colleges, “mistreatment either intentional or unintentional occurs when behavior shows disrespect for the dignity of others and unreasonably interferes with the learning process. Examples of mistreatment include sexual harassment; discrimination or harassment based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation; humiliation; psychological or physical punishment; and the use of grading and other forms of assessment in a punitive manner.”

    Mistreatment reporting form

    Mistreatment reports are confidential and the school tries to protect students from retaliation when they report mistreatment. The potential for retaliation will be considered when determining the best course of action for the situation at hand, including waiting to address the situation until after all grades are finalized.

    Contact the Ombuds Office to discuss a sensitive issue, to find guidance on how to address a concern, conflict, or mistreatment incident or to identify what policies may be applicable to a specific situation.

  • Microaggressions

    What are microaggressions?

    • A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial, ethnic or sexual minority).

    • Remains invisible to the microaggressor or the one holding privilege and evident to the individual targeted. 

    Elective Course

    93ZI705 — Addressing biases and microaggressions in medical education

    Alvaro Tori, MD

    Available for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years

    Examples of bias in medicine

    • When race/ethnicity, cultural identifiers or sexual orientation are mention, they tend to be used as shorthand for risk factors, regardless of the actual behaviors of the patients

    • Women are underrepresented in case presentations and texts regardless of disease prevalence

  • Mental Health Services
    The Department of Mental Health Services offers both in-person and tele-health visits. Schedule a visit through the portal or by calling 317-278-2383.

    A 24hr crisis line is also available to all IU School of Medicine learners at 800-909-6105.

    Campus specific resources are also available.

    Check out the diverse Mental Health Services team!

  • GME DEIJ toolkit

    Find resources to hold cultural competency training from IU School of Medicine and diversity education workshops through the IU Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs (OVPDEMA).

    View the toolkit

  • Black History Month Speaker Series

    Black History Month Speaker Series will be announced soon!

Explore more resources

  • Advocacy
  • DEI in medical education
  • Books

    How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

    Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America—but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other.

    White Fragility by Robin DeAngilo

    In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

    The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexandar

    Despite the triumphant dismantling of the Jim Crow Laws, the system that once forced African Americans into a segregated second-class citizenship still haunts America, the US criminal justice system still unfairly targets black men and an entire segment of the population is deprived of their basic rights. 

    Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis.

    The Color of Success by Ellen D. Wu

    This book tells of the astonishing transformation of Asians in the United States from the yellow peril to model minorities--peoples distinct from the white majority but lauded as well-assimilated, upwardly mobile, and exemplars of traditional family values—in the middle decades of the twentieth century.

    Being Heumann by Judith Heumann

    One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human. 

    Dreamers by Eileen Traux

    In Dreamers, Eileen Truax illuminates the stories of the approximately twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States (as many as two million came as children) who are living proof of a complex and sometimes hidden political reality that calls into question what it truly means to be American.

    The Gender Creative Child by Diane Ehrensaft

    Dr. Ehrensaft explains the interconnected effects of biology, nurture, and culture to explore why gender can be fluid, rather than binary. As an advocate for the gender affirmative model and with the expertise she has gained over three decades of pioneering work with children and families, she encourages caregivers to listen to each child, learn their particular needs, and support their quest for a true gender self.

    The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke Harris

    This book on Dr. Burke Harris’s research explains just how deeply our bodies can be imprinted by ACEs—adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce. Childhood adversity changes our biological systems, and lasts a lifetime. 

    Fatal Invention by Dorothy Roberts

    This groundbreaking book by legal scholar and social critic Dorothy Roberts examines how the myth of race as a biological concept—revived by purportedly cutting-edge science, race-specific drugs, genetic testing, and DNA databases--continues to undermine a just society and promote inequality in a supposedly "post-racial" era.

  • Television and Movies

    “13”

    An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality. (Available on Netflix)

    “I Am Not Your Negro”

    Master documentary filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin's original words and a flood of rich archival material. A journey into black history that connects the past of the civil rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. (Available on Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video)

    “When They See Us”

    The story of the Central Park Five -- now known as the Exonerated Five -- unfolds. In 1989, five young black boys were wrongfully charged with raping and murdering a white female jogger in New York City's Central Park. It's such a clear depiction of the racism in the criminal justice system, and is heartbreaking to know the true story. (Available on Netflix)

    “There’s Something in the Water”

    This documentary follows Black and Indigenous Canadians in Nova Scotia living on deteriorated land and without basic essentials, like clean water. (Available on Netflix)

    “Living Undocumented”

    Eight undocumented families’ fates as the US immigration policies are transformed (Available on Netflix)

    “Disclosure”

    An in-depth look at Hollywood's depiction of transgender people and the impact of those stories on transgender lives and American culture. (Available on Netflix)

    “How to Survive a Plague”

    The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. (Available on Prime Video)

    “Knock Down The House”

    Go behind the scenes as four determined women -- including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- challenge big-money politicians in the 2018 race for Congress. (Available on Netflix)

    “Crip Camp”

    A group of teens with disabilities attend a summer camp where they finally feel a sense of belonging, built a lifelong bond, later joined the disability rights movement, and influenced the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Available on Netflix)

    “Reversing Roe”

    Reversing Roe looks at the history of abortion laws prior to the case, as well as the current abortion rights landscape. The documentary shows both sides of the issue, with The New York Times saying that the film is “less interested in rendering a verdict on the morality of abortion than it is in tracing the increasing politicization of the issue.” (Available on Netflix)

  • Podcasts
    • The DEI Shift

    • The Clinical Problem Solvers – Antiracism in Medicine series

    • Code Switch

    • The Nocturnists – Black Voices in Healthcare series

    • The Human Doctor