April 5, 2021

Dear UW ECE Community,
We are writing to express solidarity with the Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, which have been affected by tragic acts of violence and racism in recent weeks and months. We cannot hope to achieve our individual or collective goals in research, education and service while members of our community are suffering from the effects of systemic and chronic bias, xenophobia, discrimination, racism and violence. As we start a new quarter still overshadowed by a global pandemic, we encourage you to take part in the following concrete actions, which we hope will make us stronger and bring us closer as a community:
  • Students, staff and faculty: you can review the resources provided below and make time to check in with your peers, colleagues and mentees, many of whom may be dealing with significant stressors in their on- and off-campus lives.
  • Students and postdocs: RSVP here to participate in a BIPOC Community Grounding Session facilitated by UW ECE Ph.D. student Jordan Drew. The session takes place from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. PDT, Friday, April 9 via Zoom. This restorative circle is intended to help trainees connect with and find support among their peers. (BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and is meant to include Latinx, AANHPI, mixed-race and other racial minorities — all students and postdocs who want to participate in the session are welcome to attend.)
  • Graduate students, postdocs and academic student employees (ASEs): participate in Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC) training. This program, offered under the direction of UW SafeCampus, is designed for graduate students and postdocs, graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, research assistants, staff assistants, graders and tutors.
It is our hope that the actions described above and the resources provided may provide some assistance and relief for those who are struggling. If there is anything more our Department can do to provide support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us.
Sincerely, 
Eric Klavins, Professor and Chair (chair@ece.uw.edu) 
Scott Hauck, Professor and Associate Chair for Education (chair_edu@ece.uw.edu)
Maryam Fazel, Professor and Associate Chair for Research (chair_res@ece.uw.edu)
Sam Burden, Assistant Professor and DEI Coordinator (sburden@uw.edu)