This past weekend, we were honoured to participate in the inaugural Inter-Institutional Forum for the signatories of the Scarborough Charter, hosted by the University of British Columbia.

The Charter, which has been signed by the leaders of nearly 50 universities and colleges across Canada, provides a framework for the commitment to redress anti-Black racism in and through post-secondary education.

We are proud that Brock is a signatory to the Charter, which aligns clearly with the priorities of our Strategic Plan commitment to foster a culture of inclusivity, accessibility, reconciliation and decolonization through our values of equity, diversity and inclusion. We have already taken some important steps towards meeting our obligations under the Charter, including striking a Memorandum of Agreement with the Brock University Faculty Association to initiate a cluster hire of Black faculty members. There is still much work to done, and the entire Brock community will be engaged as we go forward.

Consultation will be key to our success. The efforts of the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Decolonization (PACHRED), the Anti-Racism Committee, the PACHRED Ad Hoc Black Cluster Committee, and the Black Community Forum at Brock (BCFaB) have been integral to building and communicating a shared goal that values the inclusion of Black members of the Brock community.

The Inter-institutional Forum provided an inspirational opportunity to build a network of university leaders, faculty and staff committed to the project of supporting the flourishing of Black community members. On the same weekend, however, we learned of a mass shooting motivated by racial hatred in Buffalo, N.Y., not far from our own campus.

This deliberate act of terror targeting Black people led to the loss of 10 lives and has left a community devastated. Sadly, this is just one of too many events that occur regularly to demonstrate the continued and dehumanizing outcomes of racist white supremacist extremism in our societies.

As we remember the victims of the Buffalo shooting, we urge all members of the Brock community to join us in the important work of fulfilling the Charter’s principles and our values of inclusion and decolonization.

More information about the Charter can be found at utsc.utoronto.ca/principal/scarborough-charter

Sincerely,

Dolana Mogadime, Professor of Education, Co-Chair, President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Diversity

Trecia McLennon, Director, EDI, Culture and Education, Human Resources

Lynn Wells, Interim President and Provost