Tiffany Grant, PhD, assistant director for research and informatics and co-director of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research and Data Services Unit, in a ceremony held April 4, was honored to receive the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty. Named for the celebrated civil rights activist, this award is designed to showcase current campus-affiliated individuals and groups whose efforts relate to diversity, equity and inclusion and who have had a positive impact on the university.

Nominated by her colleagues, Tiffany was commended for her commitment to promoting awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion; exhibiting sensitivity to people of various cultures; facilitating growth among colleagues and peers; preparing students, faculty and staff to thrive in a diverse and global workforce; and collaborating with colleagues to create and implement initiatives and policies that build an equitable and inclusive environment. One nominator wrote of Tiffany that she, “embodies the spirit and dedication to spreading awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all her work at the University of Cincinnati.”

Tiffany was instrumental in creating a DEI position for UC Libraries all-library faculty that is responsible for ensuring that DEI is addressed by faculty work across all library jurisdictions. The position was created out of a DEI committee that worked together starting in the summer of 2020. Tiffany was instrumental in leading that committee, which addressed things like running committees more equitably as well as inspecting the language used in documentation ensuring that it is inclusive of everyone and building a DEI resource guide.

Tiffany was elected by her peers to serve as part of the inaugural cohort of the UC Libraries RESPECT (Racial Equity Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team) and currently serves as one of its co-chairs. This committee provides resources and programming to address systemic racism. The committee hosts difficult discussions regarding racism and how it is embedded into society. “Tiffany holds these discussions with an unwavering ability to let others make mistakes and grants them grace and space to learn more about the injustices Black Americans face in libraries, higher education and our communities. She provides her colleagues with the tools to host these hard discussions, ensuring they are fruitful and truly make a difference.”

In addition to the RESPECT group, Tiffany, along with other colleagues, was instrumental in establishing the Library Equity and Inclusion Community of Practice where faculty and staff from all the jurisdictions of UC Libraries (Blue Ash, Clermont and Main Campus) can discuss various DEI related efforts and programming as well as DEI issues facing libraries today.

In her role co-directing the Research and Data Services unit, Tiffany has organized and led DEI programming during UC Libraries DATA Day, such as  “Diversity Equity, and Inclusion in Data” (Data Day 2019) and “Bias, Miscommunication, and Equity in Data, Parts 1 and 2” (Data Day 2021 and 2022, respectively). She is a diversity advocate and mentors under-represented graduate students at UC’s Pathology and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, a role she will expand upon as the new director of UPRISE, University of Cincinnati Undergraduates Pursuing Research in Science and Engineering.

Tiffany has researched and published in the areas of DEI. Some examples include:

• A personal and impactful article on the experience of being Black and attempting to get health access during COVID-19, “Black Lives and COVID-19: Dying to Breath.”
• “Unsiloed, Cross-Jurisdictional DEI” to be published in upcoming volume entitled Liberatory Librarianship: Case Studies of Information Professionals Supporting to be published by the American Library Association.
• She earned a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University to further her knowledge and successfully received Certified Diversity Executive (CDE®) credentials from the Institute for Diversity Certification.

“Tiffany truly carries the spirit of Marian Spencer in every aspect of her work and relationships at the University of Cincinnati,” said her nominator. “It is this kind of dedication that makes a difference and impact to all our Bearcat community and beyond. Tiffany is a steward of Marian Spencer’s work and deserves this award.” Congratulations, Tiffany!