Undergraduate Student Government was introduced to the BGSU Allies program at their meeting on Monday night.

Geology Professor and Project Director Peg Yacobucci first stopped by the meeting to talk with members about the importance of being an ally to members of minority groups.

The University was recently awarded a three-year $984,484 grant from the National Science Foundation to help increase diversity in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — departments.

Yacobucci said there are two main issues causing a lack of inclusiveness in STEM departments at the University. First, she explained women and people of color are underrepresented in their applicant pools. Second, she said once minority faculty members are hired, they have a tough time advancing to leadership roles or professor positions in their department.

The team working on the BGSU Allies program is focusing on three main factors to combat biases that may be present on campus. They refer to these as the Three I’s: inclusion, intersectionality and interconnection.

According to Yacobucci, the goal of the Allies project is “to make allyship and inclusive leadership the expectations and norm at BGSU.” Allies are defined by Yacobucci as members of dominant social groups who work to help end the system of oppression.

Yacobucci explained the grant goes toward staff training that includes programs such as face-to-face workshops, online trainings and train-the-trainer programs. She said there will also be specialized training and handbooks for department chairs and directors to help them learn how to be more inclusive leaders and advocate for the people they are leading.

“The department chair or director is critical to the experience the faculty and students get,” Yacobucci said.

She also encouraged the members of USG to be allies and advocates for their peers and help other students do the same.

“At the end of our three-year project we hope the institution is really starting to change, where faculty all feel empowered,” Yacobucci said.

Director of Public Safety Mike Campbell also stopped by to explain some of the programs in the Department of Public Safety. The officers in the department put on community events, deal with crisis intervention, emergency management and parking services.

As part of the emergency management preparedness, the University has plans in place to deal with natural disasters, man-made disasters, cyber attacks and study abroad situations. According to Campbell, the University has the first lightning safety plan and study abroad plans in the state of Ohio.

“If there’s an imminent risk to safety, we want to be able to communicate with you guys as quickly as possible,” Campbell said.

USG President Hannah Cubberley also discussed campus safety and encouraged students to check out the BGSU bias reporting system, which reports incidences of bias on campus and the actions taken to resolve the incident.

The next meeting will take place Monday at McFall Center.