Affinity and Diversity Groups

 

URM-serving affinity groups for EPS/ESE

Queer Earth Scientists Organization (QuESO)

QuESO is a community group specifically for people who identify as queer/questioning. QuESO members have built a space where queer folks can go and feel that they can be their authentic selves, without worrying about outing themselves to the community at large or facing judgement from within. Please read the group's mission statement here, and the QuESO Rules of Engagement. Please contact  Marisa Borreggine (mborreggine@g.harvard.edu) and/or Esther James (estherkjames@fas.harvard.edu) if you are interested in joining.

Affinity Group for Black EPS/ESE Community Members

This group was created to support members of the who identify as Black of are of Black Heritage. Meetings are offered throughout the academic year (set by member availabity each term). Please contact Esther James (estherkjames@fas.harvard.edu) if you are interested or for more info. 

Affinity Group for Latinx EPS/ESE Community Members

We are in the process of creating a group to support members of the who identify as Latinx or are of Latinx Heritage. Meetings will be offered throughout the academic year (set by member availabity each term). Please contact Esther James (estherkjames@fas.harvard.edu) if you are interested in joining or if you'd like more info.

Information on affinity groups outside of the EPS/ESE Community

Harvard Diversity Inclusion & Belonging department

The following description was taken from the Harvard Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging website

"ODIB, in partnership with the DIB Leadership Council and Harvard University Health Services, periodically hosts Community Spaces for Affinity Groups. These spaces are part of a larger effort to support members of our community who are experiencing heightened anxiety in response to the current moment (Covid, racial injustice, world news, the political climate, etc.). All members of the Harvard community, including students, staff, faculty, postdocs, research fellows, and academic personnel, are welcome. These drop-in spaces will be hosted by affinity group. In recognition of our intersecting identities, sessions will not overlap to allow people with multiple, salient identities the opportunity to attend each relevant day."

Go to this page for info on how you can attend upcoming spaces.

URM-Serving Affinty Groups in GSAS and SEAS

The Graduate Student Recruitment and Retention subgroup created this document with a list of affinity groups within Harvard/GSAS available to URM students, including:

URM-serving affinity groups in GSAS

See the full list of GSAS affinity groups here

URM-serving affinity groups in SEAS

The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College 

The following description was taken from the Kuumba President's letter, found on the organization's website

"Almost 50 years ago, in 1970, Harvard did not have a space like Kuumba for Black students. The campus had not imagined or made room for their presence or their inevitable excellence. Black students saw the need to build a spiritual and cultural home where they could celebrate who they were and where they came from without fear or apology. So, they created Kuumba.

As an organization, Kuumba is a choir, an experience, a home, a refuge, a struggle, a dream, a responsibility, and most importantly, Kuumba is a family. In Kuumba, we end our rehearsals in a circle. In this circle, we share our blessings, our hopes, our dreams, and our sorrows. Nothing is too small or too large for us to shoulder or lift up as a community. It exemplifies, in the best way possible, what Kuumba has been, is, and can be for so many: a circle of support and a bridge over troubled water. Like a circle, it is infinite and whole, and like a bridge, it continues to stand the test of time. 

Whether you are a prospective member, an alumnus/ae, or an avid supporter, we invite you to come to any and all of the events we publicize on this website and our Facebook page, including our weekly rehearsals (Tuesdays & Thursdays in the Student Organization Center at Hilles) during the academic year. As a non-audition choir and as a community, this space is always open to all identities and their intersections. Come as you are."

Virtual meetings offer every Tuesday and Thursday. Please contact Esther James (estherkjames@fas.harvard.edu) if you are interested or for more info. 

Affinity Group for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Geosciences

Below is info on the launch of a new group called Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Geosciences (AAPI in Geosci) - a grassroots, member-driven organization committed to building a community that supports AAPIs within geosciences.

This group is open to all community members — undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, educators, administrators, scientists, professionals, retirees, and more — who self-identify as Asian American and/or Pacific Islander (AAPI) or are interested in learning more about AAPI issues. Geosciences is broadly defined to encompass any discipline related to Earth and the environment, including but not limited to oceanography, planetary science, and atmospheric sciences.

If you would like to receive email updates about the group, please fill out this Google Form

Co-founders and interim leaders of AAPI in Geoscience
Christine Y. Chen, O.K. Earl Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech
Daniel E. Ibarra, UC PPFP and Miller Institute Postdoc at UC Berkeley
Kimberly V. Lau, Assistant Professor at Penn State