The University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry community — including students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni — believes that diversity and inclusion are essential to the fulfillment of our institutional mission. We value inclusiveness in learning, patient care, curricular and co-curricular programming, campus climate, recruitment, admissions, hiring and retention.

We remain deeply committed to promoting and maintaining a civil community that facilitates opportunities for shared understanding and expression of individual and collective truths. Moreover, we resolve to maintain a community that is respectful of all persons despite differences in age, citizenship, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, geographic origin, language, marital status, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

We are committed to all members of the dental school community becoming competent oral health care providers and ethical citizen leaders able to interact effectively and ethically in an increasingly multicultural society and global economy. This transformative process is accomplished through the dental school's commitment to excellence and innovation in education, research, community service and patient care, and in accordance with its humanistic model of education. We believe that a commitment to diversity and inclusion will allow the School of Dentistry to realize more fully its vision of leading the improvement of health by advancing oral health.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Looking to a Future of Equity and Excellence

Dean Nadershahi coedited the October issue of the Journal of the California Dental Association,  featuring articles from Dr. Mary J. Lomax-Ghirarduzzi, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, at University of the Pacific, and Dr. Elisa Chávez, professor at the Dugoni School and Director of our Pacific Center for Equity in Oral Health Care.

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Supporting Inclusive Excellence

The Diversity & Inclusion Committee was founded in 2008 to support a thriving humanistic campus culture and inclusive excellence at the Dugoni School of Dentistry. The committee promotes and fosters a campus climate and culture that respects diversity in all forms, through inclusive discussions, professional development, interpersonal experiences, and intercultural appreciation — central to our core value of humanism and our responsibility to humanity.

Our priority is to develop and execute comprehensive and fluid strategies that enrich the Dugoni School's mission and values, which mirror the University of the Pacific's statement on diversity and inclusive excellence.

Dugoni in Solidarity Statement (July 2020)

Diversity & Outreach Manager Melissa Yamanaka emailed the San Francisco Campus the official Dugoni in Solidarity Statement. Students, residents, staff, and faculty were given the chance to add their names in support of our School's statement.

The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry family stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black community. With a humanistic environment as our defining characteristic, we are committed to reflect, learn, educate, and implement changes that will support our Black students, staff, faculty, alumni, patients, friends and family as well as the broader Black community.

As healthcare professionals, educators, students, and residents, we stand united against racial bias and violence that exists and will never stand for racial intolerance and prejudices. We also vow to work on dismantling any discriminatory practices within our institution, profession, and communities. We strive to tear down our inherent biases, to educate ourselves and others and to take action.

As we look towards change, here are resources to guide us in solidarity:

  • UOP-CAPS Race-Related Resources for Support
  • Black Lives Matter: Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. BLM is committed to the struggle of creating a world free of anti-Blackness and where every Black person has the social, economic, and political power to thrive.
  • Equal Justice Initiative: EJI is committed to challenging racial and economic injustice while protecting the basic human rights that lack within America’s most vulnerable population.
  • Bay Area Council: Supporting Organizations Working for Racial Justice
  • Official Black Wall Street: Support Black-Owned Businesses

We recognize our solidarity is only the beginning. However, we commit to our goal of working toward an even better and more productive understanding of how our values of courage, empowerment, excellence, integrity, innovation, and leadership and our purpose of helping people lead healthy lives can be put into action to end anti-Black racism and prejudice.

“Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
—James Baldwin

Additional Resources

Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion