School of Dentistry among 4 VCU Health Science schools to win prestigious Diversity Heed awardHealth Sciences Deans - Heed Award

School of Dentistry among 4 VCU Health Science schools to win prestigious Diversity Heed award

VCU School of Dentistry is a recipient of the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity - focused publication in higher education. 

The School of Dentistry is one of four schools on VCU’s Health Science campus to be recognized for making diversity and inclusion a top priority. (VCU School of Medicine, VCU School of Nursing, VCU College of Health Professions) 

Additionally, VCU has been recognized as a Diversity Champion for the sixth straight year.

“We are excited and honored to be recognized as a Health Professions HEED award winner,” said Lyndon F. Cooper, D.D.S., Ph.D., dean of VCU School of Dentistry. “Everyday, the School of Dentistry works toward fulfilling our goal of diversity and inclusive excellence. This HEED award acknowledges our intentionality and celebrates the efforts of many in our school, our health sciences campus and the university around inclusive excellence.”

The Health Professions HEED Award recognizes all accredited U.S. and Canadian health profession schools that are committed to making diversity and inclusion a top priority across their campuses.

“There is no excellence within healthcare at large, nor oral health professions education specifically, without a true commitment to core VCU values of diversity and inclusive excellence,” said Carlos Smith, D.D.S., M.Div, associate dean for Inclusive Excellence, Ethics and Community Engagement. “VCU School of Dentistry is truly the Commonwealth’s dental school, the only such in Virginia. While that has long been an esteemed badge of honor, it is also a tremendous responsibility. It’s an ethical responsibility to our patients, students, faculty, staff, alumni and community alike. Our receiving of this national excellence in diversity award is truly a team effort that each of us within our community ought to celebrate.”

Dean Lyndon Cooper and Dr. Carlos Smith

Insight Into Diversity selected VCU School of Dentistry because of the university’s numerous programs and initiatives that support diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Highlights of the School of Dentistry’s nomination includes school wide initiatives, partnerships with VCU and collaborations on a national level.

Within the School of Dentistry, initiatives have included programs such as Diversity Dialogues, a hybrid virtual and in-person series designed to coincide with various monthly cultural heritage celebrations and many belongingness endeavors. 

Across the VCU Health Sciences and Monroe Park campuses, the School of Dentistry has been a critical partner and co-sponsor with the VCU Office of Health Equity and the VCU Humanities Research Center in executing the History and Health Annual Symposium. 

Nationally, model programs have included an Inclusive Excellence Week now in its fifth annual iteration that has featured such key topics as disability justice, Latino/a/x/e health disparities and inequities, care for LGBTQIA+ populations and colleagues, hair discrimination in the workplace, the history of racism in healthcare, trauma informed care, medical and dental integration of care delivery and more. 

The School of Dentistry also played a role in developing and serving as a key thought leader in the first-ever dental education wide American Dental Education Association climate study, evaluating and assessing dental and allied dental programs throughout the US and Canada.

The School of Dentistry will be featured, along with VCU, the School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Health Professions, in the November/December 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine. 

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”