Schulich’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Working Group
Dear Members of the Schulich Community,
During the summer, I announced the creation of a new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Working Group, established so our School could do its part in combating anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination.
Shortly after the announcement, we began assembling the DEI Working Group with representatives from Schulich’s student, staff, faculty and alumni communities. The Working Group was tasked with developing key recommendations, including identifying ways to create greater Black and Indigenous representation among our students, staff and faculty; integrating Black and Indigenous perspectives into our curriculum and learning; and strengthening our engagement with external stakeholders to create greater career and business opportunities for Black and Indigenous people.
Since then, the Working Group has made substantial progress. It recently launched a webpage containing some preliminary issues and recommendations as well as profiles of the Group’s members. I encourage you to visit the site and review some of the preliminary recommendations, which include enhancing educational engagement with Black and Indigenous high school students and formulating a Schulich anti-racism policy, among many others.
Brent Lyons, Associate Professor in Organization Studies at Schulich and a York Research Chair in Stigmatization and Social Identity, is Chair of the Working Group and is inviting additional feedback and suggestions from the broader Schulich community. Please add your voice to this important discussion if you believe you have stories to share or ideas for strengthening our School’s tradition and culture of diversity and inclusion.
In addition, the Working Group would like to use the webpage to create a repository of ongoing Schulich initiatives aimed at addressing anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and increasing our engagement with external stakeholders. These initiatives include the recently established “Introduction to Business” webinar series that Schulich launched last week together with A Different Booklist Cultural Centre (ADBCC) – The People’s Residence, a non-profit organization that celebrates the culture and history of Canadians of African and Caribbean ancestry.
In closing, I would like to say that I strongly believe the Schulich community is united in our desire to listen, learn and work together to confront racism and other forms of exclusion, and to create greater diversity and inclusion at our School. The Working Group is a big step forward along the road to achieving that goal.
I look forward to sharing further updates on the progress of the Working Group in the near future.
Sincerely,
Detlev Zwick
Interim Dean
Office of the Dean, Schulich School of Business