BURLINGTON, Vt. – The UVM Athletics Inclusive Excellence Committee (AIEC) has partnered with the UVM Mosaic Center for Students of Color (MCSC) to once again sell apparel designed to demonstrate our commitment and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. All profits from this fundraiser will go directly to the UVM Mosaic Center for Students of Color. The fundraiser will run through Sunday, October 11.
 
RELATED LINKS
Fundraiser Website
 
The University of Vermont AIEC, which is made up of a diverse group of student-athletes, coaches and staff works to foster a diverse and inclusive community in which all student-athletes, coaches and staff feel safe, respected and valued. The AIEC fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement not only in spirit but also in action. Systemic racism continues to be a deadly weapon in the U.S. We support and stand with our student-athletes who demand change and will lead us to a better world.  Some of the work of the committee, over the past several years has included: hosting a town hall with our Athletics community to discuss the death of George Floyd and systemic racism, creating a student-athlete of color affinity group, hosting a student-athlete of color focus group, conducting climate surveys with student-athletes and staff, mandatory bias Step-Up training for all staff, and involvement in a mentoring program with College for Every Student. Of course, we have more work to do.
 
The MCSC Vision is to create a diverse and rich community of empowered, engaged, and enthusiastic students of color at UVM. They fully support the holistic development of self-identified students of color so that they can obtain their goals for academic achievement, personal growth, identity formation, and cultural development.
 
This summer the AIEC held a similar fundraiser for the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance (VRJA). The VRJA is a local organization dedicated to mitigating the direct impact and dismantling the root (systemic) origins of racism in Vermont. VRJA places a priority on policies that generally affect change across a broad spectrum, including housing, education, employment, health services and economic development and the criminal justice system.
 
Those who would like to donate directly to the UVM Mosaic Center for Students of Color can do so at: http://go.uvm.edu/6rdzy.