About

“If we think we’re great and we’re not diverse, we’re fooling ourselves - we’re just comfortable” Dr. Valerie Ashby, DEan of Arts and Sciences, Duke University

We believe that science can and should be used for the good of all people. Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our lab, and in the broader landscape of our university and society, is critical to our mission as scholars, mentors, trainees, and professional staff. We each come to this team with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and worldviews, and we strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment for all. At the same time, we acknowledge that our history up to the present has largely failed certain members of our community, including black, indigenous, and persons of color, women, and LGBTQ+. We believe that a deeper understanding and acknowledgement of racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other disparities should provide a critical framework and lens for the issues we engage in, and the interactions we have with one another and within the broader university community. For some of us, this work is very new and requires deep reflection on our own place of privilege in power structures and within our community.  For others, racism, sexism, and white supremacy have provided barriers to success and thriving for many years.  For all of us, we agree that equity means that every member of our community should have the opportunity to achieve the same level of success, regardless of their starting point. 

As such, we are committed to fostering a culture of equity, mutual respect, and dignity. We embrace our varied backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences, but believe we can also do better. We strive to cultivate greater diversity in where we come from, how we think, and our own past experiences. We believe that our own actions, however small, yield real power. We pledge to work hard, to create impact and not simply good intentions, to build a more just and equitable world. We hope that you will join us.