From: Out in STEM Date: March 4 Subject: O4U Speaker Debrief, Scholarships, and E-Board
Queers Read This!
Hi, James Beardwell! Spring break couldn’t come sooner because I cannot wait to clock in for the rot factory (and likely work overtime). Looking at my progress for senior design, however, I might need to be a part-time employee at iZone’s locked-in factory (where nobody knows me). If that’s the case, I’ll treat myself and have my brain break activity be continue my attempts to secure an Apple Vision Pro for oSTEM (I want to experience the Glasgow Willy Wonka Immersive Experience) /s. Brain rot tangents aside, below is a small debrief of our Spring Speaker Series event last week, an E-Board nomination reminder, and several good University opportunities!
Last Week
Thank you for coming to our O4U Panel/Workshop featuring Francine Marie Reyes Vega, one of O4U’s directors for 4 years now! It was a huge honor to have her join us and speak about her journey as a queer nerd & Mech E pro and specifically how O4U helped her live authentically. The work O4U does aligns directly with what oSTEM at this university builds on: professionalism should not mean the capitulation of our identities for cis-het white assimilation.
O4U scales up the gatherings of queer nerds (like our oSTEM events) around the world through their conferences that give us role models & peers with similarly unique journeys and backgrounds. If you missed the event, I hope you had a really good excuse! I wrote down a lot of what Francine shared (application tips, resources, cat names) that I’ll compile and post in our Slack group as well as our meeting slides hopefully today, but tomorrow at the latest! If you have not yet applied, round 2 is now open! HURRY!!1!
Coming Up
Updates
- E-Board Nominations: Nomination Form due by March 17, 2024 (end of spring break)
Submit your nomination form to run for oSTEM E-Board for the next academic year (2024-25)!! The open positions are Secretary, Social Chair, Publicity Chair, Industry/Conference Coordinator, and Business Manager. Details for these positions are in slides 7 & 8 of a previous meeting’s slides, but feel free to reach out for more details! We’ll be accepting nominations until the end of Spring Break (3/17), submit now! :P
oSTEM
- Website Changes Soon
Please bear with me as I work over spring break to implement the website changes that have been in the works for a while now. Part of these changes will be migrating our opportunities listed in our R&Os page to its own page so some links from past newsletters won’t work, but I’ll detail all changes in the next newsletter (2 weeks from now).
Browse through our CCC website to take advantage of our compiled Resources & Opportunities (scholarships, conferences, etc.), read more about our iconic E-Board, and find other general oSTEM links. The website is regularly updated, if you spot any issues or know of an R&O we haven’t included, our Feedback Form is always open!
University
- WiC-MiC’s Grace Hopper Conference Info Session: Tomorrow!
Our besties at WiC-MiC are hosting an Info Session + Panel to prepare you for the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC), the world’s largest gathering of women and nonbinary technologists. Past GHC attendees will share their experiences, detail the application process/materials, and answer your questions! This slay event is tomorrow (3/5) at 5:30 pm in the Data Science Suite (1201 Wegmans Hall). - Undergrad Continuing Student Scholarship: Due April 15, 2023
The University's Financial Aid Office (FAO) is accepting applications for these yearly scholarships listed. This scholarship is open to all undergraduate students returning next academic year (except for Take 5/E5 students). It is a relatively selective scholarship, only awarded to around 30 students/year and requiring a UR faculty/staff member recommendation letter. The award amounts range up to $2,500 for the next academic year and past winners can reapply. Read more and apply here. - James A. Chin, Jr. Memorial Award: Due April 1, 2023
Eligibility requirements include those specified for the above scholarship and US residency, demonstrated financial need (based on the University’s FAO), and active University involvement. Read more and apply here. - Jeremy L. Glick Memorial Scholarship: Due April 1, 2023
This scholarship has also just been opened today. Eligibility requirements include those specified for the above scholarships and being an active member of an accredited UR sorority/fraternity. Read more and apply here.
Outside
- O4U 2024 Conferences: Round 2 Apps Due by March 31, 2024 @ 11:59 pm PST
Out for Undergrad’s (O4U) Conferences are life-changing, all-expenses-paid experiences for LGBTQ2+ undergrads, featuring prominent queer speakers, inspiring mentorship discussions, legendary career fairs, and so much more! All O4U Conferences are open to international & DACA students and accommodate students with disabilities as well as students who are not out. oSTEM members have gone to their conferences every year since being founded at the U of R, feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or want application guidance!!
Their Engineering + Life Sciences Conference (serves chemical, manufacturing, energy, consumer goods, consulting, and other engineering-related fields + research & development (R&D), pharmaceuticals, health technology, and other related life science fields) is scheduled for September 26-28, 2024 in St. Paul, MN. Read more and start your application here.
Their Digital Conference (technology, media, and marketing industries) is projected for Sept/Oct 2024 in NYC (as an engineer, I’m so jealous). Read more and start your application here. Clarification note: O4U applications are on a rolling basis split into 3 rounds, you only need to apply for one round and it’s not a long process at all! Most acceptances by % happen in the earlier rounds, so apply now!!
