Dear Staff,

A subgroup of the IMS Diversity Committee is working on sharing quotes and/or short stories with students each morning on the announcements. I am sharing the items below for your reference. There is no work that needs to be done on your end. The purpose is to provide students the opportunity to think and explore the topics of diversity and equity and to recognize and understand how our unconscious bias can have an impact on our words and actions.

February 8

  • Today’s quote comes from Trang Chu. She received her MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and her BS in Economics from New York University. Trang has over 20 years experience in leading businesses in both New York City and on Wall Street.
  • “Unconscious bias affects every area of our lives. Unconsciously, we tend to like people who look like us, think like us and come from backgrounds similar to ours. Everyone likes to think he or she is open-minded and objective, but research has shown that the beliefs and values gained from family, culture and a lifetime of experiences heavily influence how we view and evaluate both others and ourselves.” – Trang Chu

February 9

  • Today’s quote comes from Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, and playwright whose African-American themes made him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
  • Langston Hughes - “I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way… A world I dream where black or white, whatever race you be, will share the bounties of the earth…”

February 11

Here’s an old riddle. If you haven’t heard it, give yourself time to answer before discussing with friends. If you have heard it and know the answer, wait for your classmates to have time think. We will reveal the answer tomorrow.

  • A father and son are in a horrible crash that kills the dad. The son is rushed to the hospital; just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate—that boy is my son!” Who is the surgeon?

February 12

Provide response for above riddle and info from

February 23

  • Today’s quote comes from Barack Obama, the 44th and current president of the United States, and the first African American to serve as U.S. president. First elected to the presidency in 2008, he won a second term in 2012.
  • Barak Obama - “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas...I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”

February 25

  • Today’s quote comes from the Dalai Lama. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a man of peace. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first Nobel Laureate to be recognized for his concern for global environmental problems.
  • Internal peace is an essential first step to achieving peace in the world. How do you cultivate it? It's very simple. In the first place by realizing clearly that all mankind is one, that human beings in every country are members of one and the same family. – Dalai Lama

February 29