Over a year after it was announced, one of the recommendations from the Living Our Values Task Force is now coming to fruition: UTD is getting two new minors. Formed in the summer of 2020 after calls from the Black Student Body for reform, the Task Force developed recommendations for administration to address racial equity and justice issues on campus. One of the recommendations was the creation of an African American and African Diaspora Studies department.

In response, the African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) and Ethnic Studies minors were created. Anne Gray Fischer, an A&H assistant professor of history, co-drafted the AAADS minor proposal.

“While new classes have been created for the AAADS program, one of the key advancements in the AAADS program is bringing together courses across campus that were already available to students and presenting them in a coherent program of study for students who want to dedicate their coursework to centering Black studies,” she said in an email statement. “The students in the Black Student Body and the staff and faculty in the BFSA (Black Faculty and Staff Alliance) who worked hard to produce their Calls to Action were very clear that the AAADS minor is just a first step to expanding equity across campus.”

ASC CHAMPS