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Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

Centers & Offices

Mary Ann Villarreal smiles in a brightly lit room. She is wearing a button-up shirt, blazer, and Progress Flag Block U lapel pin.

I have mixed feelings about New Year’s resolutions.

For many of us, they represent a sort of hopeful course correction, a chance to make amends for prior lapses so that we can move into our future with increased energy, better health and sleep, and more time and joy with family and friends—all good things!

But then reality creeps back in and these commitments become harder to keep. A recent study found most New Year’s resolutions last less than six months, and the majority of us end up reverting to earlier patterns because we’re used to them. Experts note that outcome-based resolutions also tend to fail because they focus on external factors—a healthy new routine or a particular number of days a week in the gym—rather than internal motivations and values.

But some of the trouble may involve the way we frame our approach to the New Year—as a chance to leave the past behind rather than face it. As a historian, I know “the past is never dead—it’s not even past” (all apologies to Faulkner). We can’t leave it behind—any more than we can leave behind the person we were in it. Instead, we need to look on ourselves with compassion, commit ourselves to each other, and continue showing up for our collective wellbeing.

So in 2024, I’m focusing more time on healing and I’m encouraging others to do the same. 2023 was, after all, another challenging year—and healing seems to be what many of us now need. Healing and peace.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we have to do it alone. There’s a saying, possibly an adaptation of a line from the 20th century American poet, Robert Frost: “The only way out is through, and the only way through is together.” Whatever the origin of the maxim, that seems right to me. Until we commit to our own healing—and find a way to do it together—it may be very difficult to find a way out of our current malaise. Only by clearly seeing the reasons we’ve struggled, and treating ourselves and others with compassion and understanding, can we start to take steps to get past our hurt.

This is the reason Brian Farr says that any path toward peace needs to begin with an honest and compassionate look inward. A board member of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable and Tanner Center for Human Rights at the U, Farr insists that embracing our own human dignity and that of others is vital.

It’s also why several of our new programs planned for this year—from our ongoing Interfaith Initiative, Celebrating U Completely platform, and upcoming podcast, The Joy of Belonging—to our legacy programs, including Black History Month and U Remembers intentionally make room for reflection, connection, and healing. Each of these is part of EDI’s coordinated effort to create a campus community together where everyone knows they belong.

I invite you to reach out and connect with us this year or attend one of the many spring EDI events. I think you’ll be surprised by the community and positive energy you’ll find—and the extraordinary opportunities for growth and healing we can all begin to build together in 2024.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) communicates the strategic vision for equity, diversity, and inclusion (and belonging) at the University of Utah. Sign up for our bimonthly One U Thriving Newsletter or EDI Events mailing list to stay informed on our journey as we achieve the goal of an inclusive campus.