Out of 14 recommendations outlined in last July’s Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report, eight are in progress
The Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) has released an update on the progress of implementing anti-Black racism recommendations after months of failing to provide details of the work done during the fall.
The committee, established last year in response to calls from the Black Liberation Collective for a review of anti-Black racism at Ryerson, released the Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report in July 2020, setting a goal of implementing all recommendations within two years.
PIC has established four working subcommittees that aim to engage with and participate in education sessions regarding the report’s findings and investigate how deeply anti-Black racism extends into individual interactions and how deeply it is embedded in Canadian institutions, according to PIC’s progress report, which was released on Feb. 25.
The four subcommittees include one made up of students to implement student-based recommendations, a second made up of faculty for faculty-based recommendations, and a third made up of staff for staff-based recommendations.
The fourth group includes only Black-identified students who will inform the decisions and timelines for the report’s student recommendations and advise the student working group’s co-chairs.
Ryerson president Mohamed Lachemi said the subcommittees are working towards implementing the recommendations as soon as possible, hand in hand with the Ryerson community.
“All subcommittees have been made up of members of the Ryerson community including Black students, faculty and staff from across the institution,” he said. “We have students coming to the working group and the leadership of our vice-president, Dr. Denise O’Neil Green.”
Out of the eight recommendations that are already in progress, three of them were put forward by students.
Three recommendations that have moved into the implementation stage were put forward by staff.
Two other recommendations already underway were recommended by faculty.
Alongside the progress updates, PIC has highlighted a general increase in cross-campus mobilization since the murder of George Floyd sparked a reckoning over racism, as well as an increase in funding for Black student scholarships. Lachemi said more recommendations will be implemented in the coming months.
“We are committed to communicating to our community throughout the process,” he said. “We need to make it successful and we’re committed to that.”
As reported by The Ryersonian in January, the recommendations in progress follow months of delay.
