The Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) team and Faculty Diversity Officers are deeply appalled by the structural power abuse and power dynamics within the UvA which protect perpetrators rather than victims-survivors. We see these events not as isolated cases, but as part of a larger pattern of structural violence, power abuse and gaslighting of victims-survivors after … Continue reading Statement against sexual violence at the UvA
Author: amdegraafuvanl
Racism: The other global pandemic – academia is not immune
By the Chief Diversity Officer Team University of Amsterdam students and staff have been speaking out against racism and have joined the protests and manifestations last week. The Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) team is asking the UvA community not to stay silent. Silence condones. Police brutality and anti-Black violence cannot be tolerated. The Chief Diversity … Continue reading Racism: The other global pandemic – academia is not immune
Love in a time of corona
By Anne de Graaf My first plague caught up with me in Bulawayo. I went there to research a book and interview child-headed households in Zimbabwe. In 2006 Mugabe had just thrown out of the country all NGOs and reporters, leaving his people without security, without medication, without support. His secret police were going door-to-door … Continue reading Love in a time of corona
Diversity 2.0
By Chief Diversity Officer Anne de Graaf Two years into this highly politicized job and the level of resistance is shifting. I welcome everybody’s feedback and am using it in constructive ways. On the one hand there are people who see any change, let alone change that concerns diversity equity, and inclusion—as a threat. There … Continue reading Diversity 2.0
Bridge building
By Anne de Graaf. My October Happy end of October! This month has been a special month: On Thursday 11 October, we celebrated International Coming-Out Day. On that day I communicated: Happy International Coming-Out Day! Today we honor our friends and family who faced fear and did it anyway—the definition of courage. Make an effort … Continue reading Bridge building
The UvA is Changing
By Anne de Graaf Welcome to the University of Amsterdam’s Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Team blog. This originated out of the need for a communication…