The University of Toronto is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion, and to confronting and eradicating anti-Black racism. Recent events in the US, Canada, and around the world further demonstrate the need for us to come together and address the inequalities that exist in our society. Anti-Black racism impacts everyone, and it is our collective responsibility to foster and promote Black inclusion and excellence.
There are important efforts being made on all three campuses to address anti-Black racism and advance Black inclusion, but it is important to acknowledge that while the University has made some progress, much more needs to be done. Accordingly, the University of Toronto is establishing an institutional Anti-Black Racism Task Force that will develop and propose a set of actionable recommendations to the President, Vice-President & Provost, and the Vice- President, Human Resources & Equity.
The task force will focus on identifying the barriers experienced by Black students, staff, faculty, librarians, instructors, and researchers across the University. It will also examine previous reports, consultations, and feedback from the University community on anti-Black racism.
The task force will review University processes, practices, and policies to understand how they impact systemic anti-Black racism on campus. The actionable steps that will be presented to the President, Provost, and Vice-President will be built on the ongoing equity and inclusion work implemented by various University units and additional consultation with the University community. We expect that the recommended changes will strengthen the University of Toronto’s mandate to create a more respectful, equitable, diverse, and inclusive community. The task force’s final report will be presented by March 31, 2021.
The task force will be co-chaired by Roger Bulgin, CAO, Woodsworth College; Desma Charlemagne-Michel, Director, Human Resources, University of Toronto Scarborough; Professor Dexter Voisin, Dean, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work; and Professor Njoki Wane, Chair, Social Justice Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
We invite you to read more about the task force, its Terms of Reference, and to meet the co-chairs, at the task force webpage.
A call for nominations for additional members of the task force will be issued in the coming weeks, as well as an invitation for members of the community to share their feedback, insights, and ways to work collaboratively in advancing the goals of the task force.
For questions or more information, please contact Nora Lozano, Special Projects and Administrative Officer, Office of the Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity at nora.lozano@utoronto.ca