AIHP has adopted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Values Statement to express its commitment to DEI principles and practices. Approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting in October, the statement reads:
The mission of the American Institute for the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) is to advance knowledge and understanding of the history of pharmacy and medicines. Our dedication to this mission is inseparable from our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Diversity: We value a diverse mix of people, minds, backgrounds, and experiences, recognizing that diversity broadens the history we recount, enriches the programming we offer, and brings new value to the archival materials and artifacts we collect and preserve.
Equity: We commit to equity and fundamental fairness among all people as an essential human right, and we recognize our responsibility to identify, acknowledge, and overcome the lingering effects of historical inequities.
Inclusion: We commit to a welcoming, supportive, and collegial environment where everyone is included, respected, valued, and made to feel safe to contribute and learn.
Our commitment to these values will strengthen AIHP as an organization, enhance pursuit of our mission, and contribute to needed societal change.
AIHP in 2021 made integrating and promoting DEI in all aspects of its programs and operations one of its strategic priorities during the next three years. Adoption of a values statement is one of several DEI-related action items called for by the Institute’s strategic priorities implementation plan. Other action items include diversifying the composition of AIHP’s Board of Directors and increasing outreach to African American and other historically underrepresented groups in the pharmacy profession.
A committee of AIHP members, chaired by Director Sandra M. Fabregas Troche, was charged with developing the values statement. Other committee members include Nancy A. Alvarez, Christian Asia Brown, Richard Del Rio, John E. Clark, and Dennis Birke.
The committee spent several months discussing what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean, and what they should mean, to a member-based research institute devoted to the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. The committee brought an initial draft of the statement to the Board for discussion and comment in June 2022. The committee shared a revised draft of the statement with all AIHP members in August and invited comments and suggestions. More than 20 Institute members responded. After considering these comments, the committee prepared a final draft that was presented to the Board and approved unanimously.
AIHP President John D. Grabenstein, PhD, expressed his appreciation for the work of Dr. Fabregas and the other members of the drafting committee, stating: “The committee’s work clearly captured values deeply embedded in AIHP’s work and heritage while also expressing our aspirations, and our commitment, to become a more diverse and inclusive organization.” He added: “Like AIHP’s Mission Statement, our new DEI Values Statement will guide the work and decision-making of the Institute for many years to come.”
Dr. Fabregas said “drafting this statement with a diverse group of Institute members was enriching. I am very thankful as a Hispanic member of the group to have had the opportunity to prepare such an important document.”
Posted: November 8, 2022
The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.