Current initiatives
Credit: Anna Heigh/Pennsylvania Gazette
Cora Ingrum Endowed Chair Campaign
Help us raise funds to go towards establishing the Cora Ingrum Endowed Chair within the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science.
WHAT: We are kickstarting a campaign to establish and fund an endowed chair named after and in honor of Ms. Cora Ingrum. We are setting our initial goal for $500,000.
WHY: An endowed chair (also known as an endowed professorship) is one of the highest honors one can receive within the University, consigned to faculty who are leaders in their respective fields of academic study. Endowed chairs are often used to recruit and retain talented faculty within the University. The endowment behind the endowed chair functions to provide a large amount of financial support for the honored faculty’s academic activities and salary. Appointment to an endowed chair is usually ten years long. Other endowed chairs within Penn SEAS include the four Eduardo D. Glandt President’s Distinguished Professorships.
Creating an endowed chair in the name of Ms. Cora Ingrum would enter another page into the book that is her already enduring legacy within Penn SEAS while also highlighting the importance of her work to SEAS and the broader Penn community.
WHEN: This campaign will be ongoing until we reach our goal (and hopefully surpass it)!
HOW: Consider making a gift to the Cora Ingrum Fund to help support our efforts towards establishing an endowed chair in her honor. Company matching programs work especially well here — and as always, your gift is tax-deductible!
Former ODEI Fairy Godmother/Administrative Assistant Ms. Donna Hampton, Elaida Dimwamwa BE ‘16/ROBO ‘17, and current ODEI directors Dr. Laura Stubbs and Ms. Yulanda Essoka
Legacy Project
Join us in commemorating and documenting the rich history of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and its community of students and alumni.
WHAT: We are creating a website and periodically-released booklet to, for the first time, officially record and honor ODEI history as told by its alumni and students through personal anecdotes, stories, videos, images, and interviews.
WHY: We aim to celebrate the rich, far-reaching history of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), beginning with its founding in 1981 by Ms. Cora Ingrum, through the Legacy Project. The Legacy Project will present a broad overview of ODEI over the years, featuring all of what makes ODEI the place we know and love: a history of ODEI within Penn SEAS; interviews with the original pathfinders of the office, Ms. Cora Ingrum and Ms. Donna Hampton, as well as its current directors, Dr. Laura Stubbs and Ms. Yulanda Essoka; pictures of treasured moments made in and out of ODEI over the years; and alumni stories and perspectives and testimonies. This Project serves to recognize how far we’ve come and just how far we have yet to go, demonstrating to fellow alumni and students that we can weather any journey we are placed on.
WHEN: This Project will be ongoing as we collect responses and material. We are looking to release the first edition by the end of 2022.
HOW: Enter your perspective into our ongoing archive by submitting a written response via Google Form (link here) or a video response through Tribute.co (link here).
