Apr 19, 2021
University of Chicago Graduate Recruitment Initiative Team (GRIT) began as a grassroots student organization and has grown to encompass 18 graduate programs in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD), Physical Sciences Division (PSD), and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago with over 50 members and a dedicated faculty counterpart in the form of the Diversity Council. GRIT is committed to enhancing diversity, inclusion, and equity across the BSD and PSD graduate programs. GRIT focuses on three central components: recruitment, retention, and sustainability in order to increase the recruitment and retention of students from marginalized backgrounds. Recruitment is organized by clusters/departments for programs within the BSD, PSD, and PME while retention is organized by four teams devoted towards specific groups.
Bjørn spoke with the Recruitment Co-directors, Ross Mansouri-Rad and Meg Panetta, and the Retention Co-directors, Jimmy Elias and Jessy Morgan.
By listening to this conversation with GRIT, you’ll learn about:
-recruitment and retention within the biological and physical sciences
-balancing justice and equity in the sciences
-the importance of structuring and maintaining a student-run organization
-ways faculty and graduate students can work together
-building connections across identities and interests while also. . .
-respecting unique experiences of different identities