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Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Dear PAU Community:

Today’s guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial brings up a multitude of feelings and reactions, particularly for our Black students, faculty, staff and their allies. The verdict comes with a palpable sense of relief and justice.

Police violence did not begin with the murder of George Floyd. The verdict is a small and momentous step in a long journey towards justice for the Black community and other communities of color.  

  April is Autism Awareness Month. The CDC estimates that approximately 1 in 54 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is a broad range of conditions “characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.” California was decades ahead of federal legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Action, which was passed in 1990.

  APA Division 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race published “Protecting and Defending our People: Nakni tushka anowa (The Warrior's Path) Final Report.” The Report is a groundbreaking document calling for the decolonization of APA, the field of psychology, and psychology degree programs. Kristina Mendez, a 2020 graduate of the Clinical Psychology PhD program, is a member of The Warrior’s Path Task Force and contributed to the report.    Mendez had been a member of Division 45 for sev

  Ayanna Payne, a fourth-year clinical psychology PhD student, was awarded a Diversity Research Award by the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS).

  The American Psychological Association (APA) adopted a resolution to integrate human rights into a framework that will “underpin its decision-making” on February 27, 2021. The resolution grew out of a report by the APA Task Force on Human Rights, chaired by PAU President Maureen O’Connor, PhD, JD.  The APA Task Force was created in 2016.

  Dear PAU Community,

  It’s been a year since COVID-19 first upended our world in ways few would have imagined. We asked President O’Connor to look back on the last 12 months for which there was no roadmap. Here are excerpts from our recent conversation.     

When you reflect on this time a year ago, what comes to mind?