Message from the Assistant Chair of Equity and Inclusion, Nazish Salahuddin, Ph.D.  

The worldwide, righteous protests against anti-Blackness are a call to action for us all. Action to uproot anti-Blackness and other forms of oppression from academia are long overdue. We must acknowledge the ways that the field of psychology, and higher education more broadly, serve to maintain systems of oppression. The Department of Psychology is committed to interrogating our policies, curricula, and climate to identify and dismantle anti-Blackness, racism, and oppression. 

Thus, the Department created the role of Assistant Chair for Equity and Inclusion to coordinate and advance our Department’s anti-racism and anti-oppression efforts, and to ensure this momentum is harnessed. I am honored to serve as the first Assistant Chair for Equity and Inclusion in our department. With a group of committed faculty, staff and students, I will initially focus on our anti-racism and anti-oppression work in three interrelated areas: (1) Curriculum and classroom environment, (2) Departmental climate, (3) Programming and professional development.

To improve transparency and communication about this work, I will share the Department of Psychology’s anti-racism, anti-oppression, and inclusion initiatives on this page below. 

https://psyc.umd.edu/diversity-inclusion/anti-racism-diversity-equity-and-inclusion

If you have an idea or a concern that you would like to share, please email me or contact the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at  (mail to: psycinclusion [at] umd.edu). 

To report an incident of hate or bias in the Department of Psychology, click here (https://umdsurvey.umd.edu/jfe/form/SV_9LBMyxqsfbqcd3D).