We made it to a successful end. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to faculty, staff, and students for all your unwavering support. When I look back at all my achievements within this short time, I realize I could not have gotten here without your genuine love and spirit of Ubuntu.
I am learning a lot (both good and bad) from your nurturing, and I am growing gradually. As we say in my language, “By coming and going, a bird weaves its nest." This is one of our Ghanaian proverbs explaining any process that involves building something gradually through repeated effort and meticulous work. It can also be seen as a representation of the importance of consistency, perseverance, and resilience in achieving a desired outcome in our everyday activities in CNHS. Making a nest requires a lot of discipline, responsibility, commitments to policies or rules, connections, and contentment/gratitude when we are done. I am sure everyone (faculty, staff, or student) can relate to this process because, at some point in this journey, we have adopted one or more of these requirements to make our nest in our own special ways. It was full of thorns for some people in creating their nest, but others also had it on silver platters. All the same, I believe in the saying, “there is no rose without a thorn.” At the end of this journey, we know each other better, recognize our differences, and appreciate the safety and security that comes from being where we are in our nests, whether physically or spiritually. As a community our main goal we have at CNHS is to achieve the goals grounded in Our Common Ground and celebrate together as a family. Here is a picture to remember some of our sweet memories of making the nest together this month.
(Photo above: Sefakor with CNHS administrators, faculty, staff, students, and friends at the CNHS Commencement Celebration on May 17, 2025.)
I would like to officially shout out to a big pillar, Tiffaney Delaney, the Director of Inclusive Excellence and her team at LCOM for believing in me, embracing the philosophy of Ubuntu and practically implementing it with me. I am also glad to mention that Sara and Olive were very helpful and that our partnership with LCOM will start with four major strong events from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026. These events will happen between CNHS and LCOM faculty, staff, and students together. Please, meet the wonderful team:
(Photo above, clockwise from top left: Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie, Olive Gallmeyer, Sara White, Tiffaney Delaney)
The College of Nursing and Health Sciences is partnering with the Larner College of Medicine Office of Inclusive Excellence for several events in the Health C.A.R.E. Series in the 2025-2026 academic year. The Health Cultural Awareness, Research, and Education (CARE) Grand Rounds Series is designed for faculty, staff, medical residents, and students who are interested in exploring a variety of health-related concerns that impact diverse groups. This series also provides an opportunity to delve into the history and current state of medicine and Public Health. The primary goals of the series are to empower communities, promote cultural competence among healthcare professionals, and address barriers to healthcare access and quality. Please mark your calendars for the following events:
Hispanic American HEALTHstory Month Webinar: “Linguistic Diversity in Cultural Practice,” Dr. Darin Woolpert, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, September 17, 12-1 p.m.
CNHS Kaleidoscope trivia nights and Blanket Knitting with LCOM Students in January (Date & Time TBD)
“Developing Biomedical Training Programs to Increase Student Success in the Translational Research Workforce,” Dr. Keke Fairfax, Ph.D., February 18, 12-1 p.m.
Inclusive Excellence Workshop for Staff, Carly Duran-Marrero, M.A., March 24, 12-1 p.m.
Microaggressions Workshop for Faculty and Staff with Dean Noma Anderson, Ph.D., April 22, 12-1 p.m.
Finally, I’m delighted to introduce our first featured speaker for the 2025–2026 Inclusive Excellence series—someone from our own community who is highly regarded by both CNHS and LCOM. Dr. Darin Woolpert, Program Director for the SLPA and Pre-Master’s SLP programs at the University of Vermont, will be joining us in September 2025. A licensed speech-language pathologist, Dr. Woolpert’s research focuses on narrative and literacy development in both English and Spanish. He is also interested in international education, especially about speech-language pathology programs in Central and South America. Meet Dr. Darin Woolpert below:
(Photo above: Darin Woolpert, Ph.D., CCC-SLP)
I wish you all a restful vacation. I will see you all in the Fall. Once again, thank you very much for a successful year.
Committee on Inclusive Excellence: A Message from the Chair
Dear CNHS Community,
What a year! My colleagues and I were reflecting on some of the challenges and successes from this past year and wanted to share just a few thoughts from our last University Inclusive Excellence Committee meeting.
It is important for us to remember that many members of our UVM community have felt attacked, threatened, and endangered simply because of their personal identities. It is equally important to remember that strong community and a sense of belonging can mitigate those harms and help create the protective environments where people can truly thrive.
I love Sefakor’s constant reminder of ubuntu, because being part of a community helps us develop a stronger sense of both personal and collective identity. As many of us—deservedly—take time over the summer to recharge, refuel, and reflect, I hope we return with a renewed sense of our mission and our commitment to advancing equity in support of the health of individuals, communities, and societies.
While we must continue to develop best practices in our teaching, research, clinical practice, and service—whether through universal design in the classroom or bias mitigation in our study designs—the most important thing each of us can do is simply be more empathetic and compassionate.
This year, I often felt uplifted and encouraged by the dedication of so many of our colleagues. I hope everyone enjoys a restful summer, and I look forward to reconnecting in the new academic year with renewed energy, shared purpose, and a continued commitment to building a more inclusive and caring community.
Sincerely, Noah and the CIE Committee
Wellness Corner
We are pleased to share that CNHS is officially an exemplar in wellness on our campus. We are the first academic unit to have a wellness committee. We know that workload conversations have already happened but if you would like to be involved next year, please email Karen.Westervelt@med.uvm.edu.
Staff are busy organizing summer semester Inclusive Excellence meetings where this group will develop inclusive excellence initiatives that support goals in the CNHS IE Action Plan. Please join Tuesdays 6/10, 7/15 and 8/5 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. in Rowell 301 to contribute to the plan! Future planned CNHS Staff Inclusive Excellence activities & educational opportunities:
September 2025 – planning in progress to integrate music from different cultural backgrounds into UVM Staff Week of Appreciation (details to be arranged and advertised, additional staff support needed).
January 2026 (date to be determined) – viewing of 2025 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Equity Lecture: DE Why and the Why KNOT by Carla Caren, Ph.D., MSOD Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer University of Vermont Health Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2d4TUk5Qq0
March 24, 2026 – CNHS & LCOM Staff Inclusive Excellence educational workshop led by Carly Duran-Marrero, UVM Trainer and Educator for Inclusive Excellence.
Some staff requested volunteer opportunities. If you have ideas for volunteer opportunities, please email Lisa.McClintock@med.uvm.edu
Lisa McClintock Rehabilitation & Movement Science
University of Vermont
Faculty Corner
We recently had the opportunity to attend the Assessment Fair at the Davis Center. This was a campus-wide event hosted by the Assessment Council and the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA). At the event, we had the opportunity to rotate through various stations to learn from multiple people pursuing diverse assessment methods across campus, centered around student life and belonging. In sum, it was a great event in which we learned a ton about how to improve our assessment of student learning across curricula and programs and how to assess students’ sense of belonging across our CNHS community. As we approach the next academic year, we hope to understand further and evaluate our students and their sense of belonging across our programs to continue building a cohesive learning community. As of now, we plan to start this endeavor in our undergraduate nursing program, in hopes that other programs/departments will soon follow.
We look forward to starting this important work and will provide you with updates along the way. Below is a picture of us.
Our best.
Sefakor & Brandon Brown M.S.N., RN, CNL (he/him) Clinical Assistant Professor
(Photo below: Sefakor with faculty at the Assessment Fair.)
Student Corner
As the end of the academic year wrapped up, CNHS and Kaleidoscope had great representation at the Student Life Awards. We had two career champions including Jeremy Siebold, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and CNHS alum, Zyakkiriah Rhoden, who was in the Public Health Sciences program and part of starting a peer mentoring program for first generation students. We also had the Chair of Kaleidoscope, Ella Kenney, win the Spirit of Service award for all that she has done to uplift our CNHS and UVM community. Throughout her time at CNHS, Ella has exemplified the true spirit of service, and we are very proud of her and wish her the best of luck after graduating this year!
(Photo above: Zyakkiriah Rhoden receives the Career Champion Award.)
What's Happening
Inclusive Excellence Action Plan. We encourage everyone to take time to review the new Comprehensive Inclusive Excellence Action Plan. Your engagement is essential to building a more inclusive and equitable community.
Camp Free to Be – Applications Open. The Education Justice Coalition Organization is now accepting applications for Camp Free to Be, a BIPOC-centered camp for youth ages 12–17. Dates: August 17–21, 2025. Mission: To bring youth of color into nature and provide opportunities for connection, healing, and joy. Registration closes soon – apply now!
2025 Health Equity Summit – Call for Proposals. This is a reminder that the Call for Proposals for the 2025 Health Equity Summit is open now through Friday, June 13. Summit Dates: October 23–24, 2025. Location: UVM Davis Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Format: In-person and virtual participation options available. Submit your proposal by June 13 via Oxford Abstracts. Full details and guidelines:Health Equity Summit | UVM Health Network
Women’s Health and Cancer Conference. The University of Vermont Cancer Center invites you to the 28th Annual Women’s Health and Cancer Conference. Date: Friday, September 19, 2025. Location: Dudley H. Davis Center, University of Vermont & Zoom. Theme:The Leading Edge of Cancer Care. More information about speakers, sessions, sponsors, and registration will be shared this summer via email and on our website.
