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Each day of the second annual BLAST Off Week, hosted by the College of Engineering and Computing’s Office of Diversity, Outreach, and Inclusive Learning (CEC DOIL), focused on a different theme: Belonging, Leadership, Access, Success, and Trailblazing. The week’s events featured resources available to CEC students.��

DOIL Diversity Associate Mercadi Crawford notes one change from last year: “’T’ last year stood for ‘transformation,’ and so that was us just starting the office; that was us trying to figure out what we wanted CEDRIC to look like [and] what we wanted BLAST Off events to look like. This year, we did ‘trailblazing,’ because we couldn’t have done any of that [transformation] without a certain amount of people that helped us. We wanted to make sure that they received the award.”��

CEDRIC, the Computing and Engineering Diversity Resource Information Center, has a new location on the second floor of the Nguyen building, Office ENGR 2800, and was the location of the inaugural Trailblazers Awards ceremony.

Crawford adds the awardees were “people who were with us when we only had one staff member when it was only Dr. Carr [CEC’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach, and Inclusive Learning & Chief Diversity Officer] trying to do events and do things for all the students here in the building.” Even now, after the addition of Crawford and Christi Wilcox to DOIL, Crawford says, “These [awardees] are still people that we reach out to: we had faculty...willing to help us get our curriculum together; we had staff...willing to help us get our spaces...and reach out to our students. We thought that it was very important for them to be recognized because they could see our vision back when we couldn't see it. They really did set the trail for what we are going to become.”��

For CEC students at large, BLAST Off Week culminated in Thursday’s career preparation event, which featured professional hair and makeup services, free professional clothing, and resume and application workshops. This year’s BLAST Off Week events took place from September 19 to September 23. There was a noticeably bigger crowd this year, which Crawford attributes not only to reduced Covid-19—related fears but also to the participation of partner sponsor CACI and to greater marketing efforts prior to the event.��

“We were just excited about how many students were excited about it,” says Crawford.��

BLAST Off week’s events were as follows: ��
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BELONGING
At an ice cream social on Monday, hosted by DOIL in partnership with Undergraduate Student Services, students could chat with representatives from student and university organizations, who promoted their mission, values, and resources at tables on the lawn.��

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LEADERSHIP
On Tuesday, students learned how to navigate their academic journey and transition to the workplace at a CACI Leadership Panel in the Johnson Center.��

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ACCESS
Resource fairs on Wednesday for students and staff highlighted where students could find support when applying to fellowships, graduate schools, research funding, and chances to study abroad.��

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SUCCESS
Thursday featured career prep resources, including barbers, professional makeup artists, and a professional attire closet in addition to career workshops on building resumes, creating professional correspondences, establishing a professional profile, and applying for jobs.����

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TRAILBLAZING
Eight people and two corporate partners of DOIL received Trailblazers Awards, which recognize those who have demonstrated excellence in maintaining a socially conscious STEM environment. Award recipients include Assistant Professor of Statistics Jonathan Auerbach, PhD Candidate in Information Technology Dominique Calder, undergraduate software engineering student Natnael Haile, Information Technology Specialist Larry Jackson, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering Leigh McCue, Director of Teaching Excellence with the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning E. Shelly Reid, CEC Operations Manager Joyce Rose, Executive Director of Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion Kamaljeet Sanghera, Bechtel, and CACI.��