26 March 2025

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School’s annual Ida Gray Awards emphasize the strengths of diversity

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The importance of continuing and celebrating the School of Dentistry’s long history as a welcoming and diverse community was the focus of the school’s annual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Day on Tuesday.

A student, staff member and faculty member were presented with the annual Ida Gray Award for their significant contributions to the school’s commitment to an inclusive environment for work, learning, research, patient care and the many other parts of the school mission.

The award, established in 1997, honors the legacy of Dr. Ida Gray, who graduated from the School of Dentistry in 1890, only 15 years after the founding of the school in 1875. It was a time in the nation’s history when women and racial minorities were rarely accepted into higher education and professional schools. Gray went on to become the first Black woman to practice in Chicago.

Students, faculty and staff nominate individuals for the award and recipients are selected by the school’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Multicultural Affairs Committee (DEIB-MAC).

This year’s honorees announced during the DEIB program are:

• Student: Oak Gar Moe, a DDS student in the Internationally Trained Dentist Program (ITDP) who will graduate this spring. Nominators cited Moe’s work as the ITDP’s liaison to DEIB-MAC, where he has creatively fostered a climate of care, acceptance and welcome for international students. A native of Myanmar, he comes from a diverse background and shares his experiences and perspective with classmates, students, staff and faculty around the school. He has worked on an anti-racism project since arriving at the university and is scheduled to speak on DEIB issues as a student speaker at this year’s national meeting of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). Moe has demonstrated his commitment to global health by joining the dental school teams who traveled to Kenya and Jamaica to provide dental care to underserved populations as part of the school’s Global Initiatives in Oral and Craniofacial Health Program.

• Staff: Celia Alcumbrack, the Marketing Manager in the school’s Marketing and Communications Office. Described as “one of the strongest supporters of Multicultural Affairs in our school” by a nominator, Alcumbrack last year led a project that created a large “You Belong” mural on a vacant wall near the school’s north entrance. The mural, with a series of portraits of students, faculty and staff, highlighted their diverse backgrounds and interests. The project, a nominator said, showed her “wonderful sense of creativity in creating a supportive climate for everybody. When she thought about the theme ‘Belonging’ and then created a photo mural of dental school students, staff and faculty members, it was just one of the many ways that she tries to create a visual reminder that we all belong and are members of a supportive community. This large mural expresses the dental school’s desire to make everybody feel welcome in an exceptionally vivid way and draws attention to this important value.” Alcumbrack was also instrumental in starting a Staff and Faculty Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA). Working with an existing student organization, Alliance for Inclusion, GSA advocates for policies and practices that support LGBTQIA+ individuals within the school, among patients, and across the dental community.

• Faculty member: Dr. McKenzie Maynor, an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics. A nominator said Dr. Maynor is the “perfect embodiment” of the Ida Gray Award. “Her support, guidance, kindness, knowledge and energy may sometimes go thankless, but never does it stop flowing in abundance,” the nominator said. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion was evident during her residency in the dental school’s prosthodontics program before becoming a faculty member. She was cited for serving as a mentor, helper, team member, trailblazer and friend for many people around the school. “She has a mindset and heart set on uplifting those around her, so the diligence and care required for diversity equity and inclusion work is almost second nature for her,” a nominator said. She also was cited for her work with the Student National Dental Association (SNDA), for which she has assisted student in the Simulation Lab, attended board and general meetings, made time for questions from first-year students, and contributed to social events. “She lives her life with others in the front of her mind, and this is something that is too special not to be awarded,” a student said. 

Dean Jacques Nör said the Ida Gray history illustrates the longstanding understanding of school leaders that the educational, patient care and research mission is stronger with a diverse community. It is one of the foundational core issues in the 150-year history that is being celebrated in this sesquicentennial year.

“It has been my commitment since my first interview for this job to work with each one of you to make the dental school a welcoming place for everyone, to make sure that everyone knows that they belong here,” Nör said. “Together we work to make sure everyone in our community experiences this shared sense of belonging.  There is no question in my mind that a welcoming and diverse community makes all of us so much stronger.

Dr. Todd Ester, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, said despite the current national uncertainty related to DEI initiatives, higher education funding and other issues, “we are still living in our core values” at the School of Dentistry. The secret to moving forward and staying positive, he said, is in staying together. “Coming together, understanding that the work we do is important, understanding that it makes a difference in the lives of those student, staff, faculty and patient communities that we serve. How we continue that work will be important to define.”

He noted that the DEI-MAC is now in its 29th year, which means the School of Dentistry was out in front of diversity initiatives well before many other units on campus, and the commitment has endured because of that very diversity through many societal challenges over the years. “We would not be here today if it were not for the fabric and richness of our community – students, staff, faculty, alumni, patients – all of us – coming together,” he said. “Some things that we do are foundational to who we are, and we are so thankful for our ability to do that work.”

More information on the school’s DEI initiatives is available through the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Source: https://news.dent.umich.edu/