Statler College community members plot their course to Morgantown as part of WVU Diversity Week

Students, faculty and staff were able to share where they came from during Diversity Week activity. Avishek Choudry, an industrial and management systems engineering assistant professor plots his origin on the Diversity Map.

During West Virginia University’s Diversity Week students, faculty and staff in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources shared where they came from. 

Photos by Paige Nesbit, Director of Marketing

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The event, “Diversity Map: The Value of Mutual Respect,” encouraged constituents to place a dot on their country or city of origin and extend a waypoint to Morgantown. According to Cerasela Zoica Dinu, associate dean for Student, Faculty and Staff Engagement and chairperson of the College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, close to 150 people participated. 

“It was exciting to see people tracing their roots from faraway places back to Morgantown,” said Dinu, who hails from Romania and joined the staff in chemical and biomedical engineering after earning her doctorate at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. “We were even surprised by some of the locations, like Australia and the Philippines.”  

According to Dinu, the exercise, which they hope to conduct annually, was created by the College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee to celebrate everything that shapes the College – its values, beliefs and views that arise from cultural and ethnic differences, gender, age, race, religion, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geographic region and more. 

“We are all a valuable part of the Statler College,” said Qingqing Huang, assistant professor of mining engineering and member of the College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. “I come from Huaibei, China — a small city in a big country. Looking at the Diversity Map, it becomes apparent that we may all come from different places, but still, we work together in unity to achieve our individual fullest potential so as to achieve the College's fullest potential.” 

Other Diversity Week events conducted in the College included a diversity wheel, which encouraged students to spin the wheel to learn about the College’s specific programs and initiatives related to the different dimensions of diversity within individuals and institutions, the Statler Diversity Awards and a let’s talk with the DEI Committee Members that celebrated our College community and their dedicated efforts towards promoting an authentic space for mutual respect and cultural and social integration.  

WVU’s annual Diversity Week endeavors to promote celebration, education and understanding of different identities, and experiences present on our campuses. Its aim is to create an atmosphere that provides the WVU community, including students, faculty and staff, the opportunity to explore different cultures, engage in discussions that bring new perspectives and celebrate the presence of, and contributions made by, people of all identities and experiences. 

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