National Science Foundation funds DEI-based 'Math for All' conference
Seven different American colleges and universities served as in-person venues for this year’s DEI-based 'Math for All' conference during April 5-6.
The U.S. National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency, pledged in 2021 to fund the Math for All conference annually from 2022 to 2024 with $50,000.
Multiple schools from around the nation recently participated in a government-subsidized conference promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in mathematics.
Seven different American colleges and universities served as in-person venues for this year’s “Math for All” conference during April 5-6. The event, based out of Tulane University in New Orleans, included a mix of live and virtual components aimed at “fostering inclusivity in mathematics by holding talks and discussions in both research and education.”
The U.S. National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency, pledged in 2021 to fund the Math for All conference annually from 2022 to 2024. The grant, totaling nearly $50,000, aims to “increase diversity in mathematics” and help to reverse “systemic forms of oppression in mathematics” and related fields.
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The structure of the event this year differed slightly from venue to venue but generally included a mix of conference-wide speeches, as well as breakout sessions consisting of short discussions from undergraduate researchers.
All seven locations tuned in during the afternoon of April 6 for a virtual talk given by Federico Ardila, a professor of mathematics at San Francisco State University who lists his preferred pronouns on his university biography. According to his personal website, Ardila dedicates his work to “fostering an increasingly just, equitable, and welcoming community of mathematicians that benefits from our differences and serves the needs of all communities.”
In 2016, Ardila published an article titled “Todos Cuentan: Cultivating Diversity in Combinatorics.”
The conference was founded in 2020 by Swati Patel, Padi Fuster, and Robyn Brooks—instructors and professors of mathematics at Oregon State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Utah, respectively—in an effort to “counter systemic racism and inequities in mathematics,” according to Oregon State University.
Brooks’ personal website links to her own DEI statement. Similarly, Fuster’s web page includes her preferred pronouns, “she/ella.”
In 2023, Patel said: “We created this conference to try to build a more positive and welcoming culture in mathematics. We thought of a conference that would be an open and friendly space for people to gather and talk about math, math education and how it relates to diversity, justice and inequity,” as seen from Oregon State University’s website.
Campus Reform has contacted Federico Ardila, Swati Patel, Tulane University, and the Math for All conference organizers for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.