The University of Southern California Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy trumpets its dedication to diversity on its website. The school is “committed to preparing diverse leaders” and pledges “accountability and transparency, as well as consistent engagement to ensure that we create and maintain an inclusive environment.” It’s an important goal in a profession that serves people of all backgrounds but whose practitioners are over 80% white.
As director of admissions at USC Chan, Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh said that she was doing just that. The first Black woman in the position, she revamped the admissions process to make it more holistic, decreasing the emphasis on GPAs and GREs and adding opportunities for applicants to show their compassion, commitment to health equity, and how their life experiences had shaped them. 
Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh, associate professor and former director of admissions at USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
The result was what Anvarizadeh described as the most diverse cohorts in USC Chan’s history, featuring a 10% increase in admitted Black students and a 19% increase in Latinx ones. (USC could not provide data on the cohorts' diversity before press time.) Students from minoritized backgrounds named her as the primary reason that they had pursued the field.
“She changed my life and opened doors for me that I don’t think would have ever been opened,” said Christine Villalobos, a doctoral candidate in the class of 2023. “There’s no way I would’ve been able to have entered occupational therapy despite my years in caregiving.”
So, it came as a shock when Anvarizadeh was demoted to the role of associate professor last June while on a protected medical leave following her pregnancy.
“There was really no rationale,” said Anvarizadeh, who is also the co-founder and chair of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity and the youngest and first Black and Iranian woman vice president of the American Occupational Therapy Association. “My performance was high; my merit review was stellar. There’s nothing you can pinpoint that’s tangible.”
Anvarizadeh and the USC Chan Justice Collective, a coalition of roughly 100 students that has sprung up to support her, suspect something pernicious behind her demotion: racism, and a reluctance to truly do the work necessary to back up the school’s claims about diversity, access, and equity.
