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Diversity & Inclusion
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine is committed to building an environment where all students, faculty, staff, and invited visitors from varying backgrounds and life experiences, feel a sense of belonging, are engaged, and are valued and respected for their voices and contributions.
These differences include, but are not limited to, internal dimensions such as personality, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture, health, ability, learning, thinking and communication style; external dimensions such as geographical location, marital and family status, economic background, access to resources, educational background, work experience, religious, philosophical, and spiritual beliefs, and political views. We acknowledge that categories of differences are not always fixed but also can be fluid. We respect individual rights to self-identification, and we recognize that no one identity is intrinsically superior to another.
Inclusion means more than just acknowledging and/or tolerating difference. The concept of inclusion encompasses acceptance and respect. Inclusion is a set of conscious actions that involve knowing how or learning to relate to those qualities and conditions that are different from our own. It is through inclusion that our learning environment is enriched by the varied perspectives and experiences that each unique member brings to the community and through which we positively affect the healthcare of our world.
Contact Us
Office phone: (248) 370-2076
Tiffany Williams, Ph.D., Director
(She/Her/Hers)
elliottf@krissystems.com
Kenya Lawton, MSW
(She/Her/Hers)
kenyalawton@krissystems.com
Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion recognized by Society of Black Pathologists
Congratulations to Vonda Douglas-Nikitin, M.D., for receiving this year's Vivian W. Pinn, MD Award for Excellence in Leadership in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine presented by the Society of Black Pathologists for demonstrating leadership and inspiring excellence in her 20+ years of teaching, mentoring and practice in the field of pathology.
Dr. Douglas-Nikitin has served as the medical director of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory since she joined Beaumont Hospital (now Corewell Health) in 2004. She is currently an assistant dean for Diversity & Inclusion and associate professor of Pathology for OUWB. Read full bio below in the Meet the Team tab.
The award is in honor of the accomplishments of Vivian W. Pinn, M.D., who was the only Black woman in her graduating class from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the first Black woman to chair an academic pathology department in the United States, and the first full-time director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Find out more about the award here.
Anti-Racism and Diversity Resources
Below is a collection of links, recommended readings, and other resources to get general information and learn about anti-racism, anti-oppression, and injustice and privilege.
Hardeman RR, Medina EM, Kozhiman-nil KB.
Tamorah Lewis, MD, PhD
Williams DR, Mohammed SA.
James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time
Edward Baptist
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Makings of American Capitalism
Robin J. DiAngelo
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Race
Randall Kenan
The Fire This Time
Ibram X. Kendi
How To Be An Antiracist
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racism in America
Ijeoma Olou
So You Want To Talk About Race
Dorothy Roberts
How Science, Politics, and Big Business Recreate Race in the Twenty-First Century
Eli Saslow
Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist
Annaliese A. Singh
The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism & Engage in Collective Healing
Harriet A. Washington
Medical Apartheid
Alex Zamalin
Antiracism: An Introduction
- 13th (Netflix)
- American Son (Netflix)
- Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (Rental)
- Blindspotting (Hulu with Cinemax; Rental)
- Clemency (Rental)
- Dear White People (Netflix)
- Fruitvale Station (Rental)
- I Am Not Your Negro (Netflix)
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)
- Just Mercy (Amazon Prime, Apple TV)
- King In The Wilderness (HBO)
- See You Yesterday (Netflix)
- Selma (Rental)
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Rental)
- The Hate U Give (Hulu with Cinemax)
- Trial 4 (Remy Burkel) (Netflix)
- When They See Us (Netflix)
- Antiracism Center: Twitter
- Audre Lorde Project: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Black Women’s Blueprint: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Colorlines: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Families Belong Together: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Justice League NYC: Twitter | Instagram + Gathering For Justice: Twitter | Instagram
- The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- MPowerChange: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Muslim Girl: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- RAICES: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- SisterSong: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- United We Dream: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
James Baldwin
“Black Lives Matter (1965)”
Megan Ming Francis
“We Need to Address the Real Roots of Racism”
Ibram X. Kendi
"How to Build an Anti-Racist World"
Trevor Noah
“George Floyd and the Dominos of Racial Injustice”
Bryan Stevenson
“We Need to Talk About Injustice”
Baratunde Thurston
“How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline at a Time”
Pathway Programs
OUWB Student Events and Activities
The following are a few of the many Diversity & Inclusion events.
To organize our activities, we use OUWB MedSync: an interactive, online tool powered by OrgSync.com that fosters communication, cooperation, and creativity between students organizations and their members.
Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Drive occurs every October in conjunction with Gift of Life, the Medical Library, Student National Medical Association and the Minority Association of Premedical Students. The event addresses the dire need for more individuals to register as bone marrow and organ donors.
Dinner with a Doctor was created as a way to connect Beaumont physicians with our medical and pre-medical students through storytelling. The narrative-driven event allows medical and pre-medical students to ask participating speakers about their own journey to becoming a physician.
This annual community health fair takes place every January.
It is open to both Chandler Park Academy students and the surrounding neighborhoods, with attendees receiving basic health screenings and flu shots as well as participating in various educational activities related to the medical field. Read more about it here.
Health Equity Symposium is an annual program co-sponsored by the Oakland University School of Nursing and Beaumont Health System in honor of National Minority Health Month, which is supported by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It is observed every year in April to highlight the health disparities that persist among racial and ethnic minority populations and the ways in which legislation, policies and programs can help advance health equity.
The Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Kaleidoscope Project began as a student-led initiative and has been warmly embraced by our OUWB leadership. The project celebrates the LGBTQ+ community at OUWB and promotes inclusivity amongst all realms of medical education — from the classroom to patient care
Click here to learn more.
Meet the Team
Tonya Bailey, Ph.D. |
Vonda K. Douglas-Nikitin, M.D. (She/Her/Hers) |
Tracey Taylor, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers) |
Tiffany Williams, Ed.M., Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers) |
Kenya Lawton, MSW (She/Her/Hers) |
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (DEIC) is a working group that serves as a mechanism to address concerns regarding diversity, equity and inclusion for the entire OUWB community. The council was established to ensure a cross section of representatives and consists of more than 25 members from the student, faculty, and staff populations.
The group looks for ways to facilitate opportunities for successes of underrepresented populations, to identify strategies to enhance the OUWB environment with respect to inclusiveness with medical students, faculty and staff, advises administration on current issues and actions pertaining to DEI, and provides a collective, coherent voice and serves as a resource for all stakeholders on issues related to diversity.
All members of the OUWB community are invited to attend the monthly meetings, third Thursday, 12 – 1 p.m.
Current DEIC Members
Students: Kimberly Anyadike, Kerrin Bersani, James Blumline, Varneet Brar, Melanie Ermler, Rachel Harvey, Anisah Hashmi, Mahmoud (Moe) Hijazi, Charlene Hsia, Eric James, Rachel Kalthoff, Min Young Kim, Nathan Lwo, Kevin Pullukat, Kevin Roby, Abiba Salahou, Sukhmani Singh, Asia Susko, Kevin Van, Monique Waltman, and Katie Wheeler.
Faculty: Abram Brummett, Claudio Cortes, Vonda Douglas-Nikitin, Suzan ElSayed, Douglas Gould, Sheala Jafry, Riya Kalra, Trini Mathew, Changiz Mohiyeddini, Akshata Naik, Arthur Rosner, Manveen Saluja, Payal Shah, Lori Stec, Varna Taranikanti, Tracey Taylor, Rennard Tucker, Sherry Viola, and Jason Wasserman.
Staff: Jean Brown, Berkley Browne, Patricia Cole, Angie Freeman, Trixy Hall, Julie Jagmin, Maurice Kavanagh, Deirdre Pitts, Robin Rivest, Janail Silver, Ann Voorheis-Sargent, Katie Weyand, and Tiffany Williams
The Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (DEIC) kicked off the Diversity Champions program in early 2021, with a third cohort graduating from the program in May 2023. The third cohort of champions are: Janine DeWitte, Sujana Gundlapalli, Mary Hooker, Matthew Holtz, Sheala Jafry, Sylvia Kashat, Min Young Kim, Lori Mausi, Lynda Misra, Rima Stepanian, David Stewart, Amany Tawfik, Rennard Tucker, and Stephen Warnick, Jr.
The inaugural cohort (found below) consists of nearly 30 graduates representing various aspects of the OUWB community. More information about the program can be found by clicking here.
Name | Role |
Kimberly Anyadike | M2 |
Kerrin Bersani | M2 |
Vaneet Brar | M3 |
Berkley Browne, Ph.D. | Assistant Dean for Student Affairs |
Abram Brummett, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies |
Heidi Donnelly | Staff |
Suzan ElSayed, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies |
Douglas Gould, Ph.D. | Professor of Neuroscience and Chair, Department of Foundational Medical Studies |
Mahmoud (Moe) Hijazi | M2 |
Charlene Hsia | M2 |
Rachel Kalthoff | M3 |
Riya Kalra, M.D. | Instructor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health |
Trini Mathew, M.D., MPH | Professor, Department of Internal Medicine |
Sandra Oska | M4 |
Mallory Peters | M4 |
Robin Rivest, M.Ed., MBA | Director of Curriculum Data Management |
Kevin Roby | M3 |
Arthur Rosner, M.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Surgery |
Manveen Saluja, M.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine |
Manraj Sekhon | M4 |
Sukhmani Singh | M2 |
Julie Strong | Staff |
Tracey Taylor, Ph.D. | Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, Associate Professor of Microbiology |
Ann Voorheis-Sargent, Ph.D. | Director, Center for Excellence in Medical Education (CEME) |
Monique Waltman | M3 |
Katie Weyand | Staff |
Katie Wheeler | M2 |