Principles of Community Committee

The Animal Behavior Graduate Group believes in actively creating an equitable environment for all our members to ensure our continued commitment to this principles of community. The mission statement of the Principles of Community Committee is below:

The mission of the Animal Behavior Principles of Community Committee is to promote, foster, and enhance the community of the Animal Behavior Graduate Group (ABGG). Diversity includes the familiar categories of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, as well as all the different characteristics and attributes of our current and aspiring members.

The Committee believes that the inclusion of members with a diversity of background and experiences creates a more productive, innovative, and understanding scientific community. The Committee recognizes that achieving these goals requires not only assisting individual students during recruitment and throughout their graduate studies, but also developing an organizational culture at both the Graduate Group and institutional level that values and supports an inclusive academic environment.

As such, we are committed to 1) providing equitable opportunities for all individuals to be able to realize their maximum potential, and 2) identifying and overcoming patterns of oppression, as they arise in our program, the UC System, and the broader scientific community. We aim to achieve this by regularly evaluating and improving our admission and recruitment practices, creating diversity and inclusion training opportunities for all members, and ensuring that all students have equitable access to the resources offered by the University of California.

We have compiled a list of resources that provide mental health support for BIPOC and LGBTQIA students. Additionally, we include suggested action items and general educational resources for allies. We hope this list can be a community effort. 

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