![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/HRTF-report-cover-300x389.jpg\")
The report, titled Pushing Onward<\/a>, lists\u00a046 prioritized recommendations that the HRTF says can promote and protect\u00a0human rights at Brock and create a culture that is safe, welcoming and inclusive.<\/p>\nThe wide-ranging proposals are organized into six key themes, and include such steps as<\/p>\n
- \n
- creating a new senior position to oversee human rights advancement;<\/li>\n
- setting timelines for hiring a more diverse workforce;<\/li>\n
- conducting a campus equity census and audit;<\/li>\n
- supporting\u00a0an increasingly diverse student population;<\/li>\n
- and formally incorporating the 2015 Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Report into Brock\u2019s pedagogical and academic culture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The HRTF was created in the spring of 2016 to identify ways to improve Brock\u2019s human rights policies and services. Its membership is drawn from undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, senior administration, the Board of Trustees as well as the external local community.<\/p>\n
The report has been\u00a0delivered to Traves and will be formally presented to the Board at its next meeting on June 22.<\/p>\n
The President\u00a0praised the task force\u2019s work, and said the very wording of the proposals will help many people understand what inclusion and diversity look like in daily life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very pleased to receive this report,\u201d said Traves. \u201cThe Task Force undertook a significant challenge, but on balance it seems to me that they have addressed serious issues in a thoughtful way. Over the next several years, Brock will carefully consider the adoption and implementation of their many recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traves, who is serving a one-year term as Brock’s Interim President, will be providing the HRTF report to his full-time successor, who is expected to be named and take office in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Comments from the Human Rights Task Force:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- \u201cWe\u2019re in a good spot, this is an important roadmap for moving forward. Now steps need to be taken to ensure this report is more than a document that gathers dust on a shelf. We heard from people who were very candid in sharing their experiences, both the successes and the struggles.\u00a0My special thanks to members of the Task Force, resource personnel and union observers who dedicated themselves to this important initiative.<\/span>\u201d
\n\u2014 Brad Clarke, HRTF Chair; Director, Student Life and Community Experience<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cWe each have a role to play in being a part of a new culture that understands, respects and honours human dignity.\u00a0 As an institution of learning, Brock has a duty to care for and teach our students what their human rights and responsibilities are. An important part of that involves being aware of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code and how it relates to individuals. The Task Force report serves as a reminder of the protected grounds within the Human Rights Code.\u201d
\n\u2014 Dolana Magodime, HRTF Vice-Chair; Associate Professor, Faculty of Education<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cMembers of the Task Force are hopeful that the recommendations contained in the report will be favourably received by the University\u2019s new president, and that the president will provide the vision and leadership to ensure that these recommendations move from intention to action.”
\n\u2014 Anna Lathrop, Vice-Provost, Teaching, Learning and Student Success\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cIt was a privilege to be part of the Task Force as a liaison for the Board of Trustees.\u00a0This has been a thoughtful process drawing input from many stakeholders. I look forward to a university that is more inclusive of all those who are part of its community, and this report is an important means of ensuring that we are building the right processes and policies.\u201d
\n\u2014 Elisabeth Zimmerman, Brock University Board of Trustees; Executive Director, YWCA Niagara Region<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cThis initiative is critical because human rights are important to student success.\u00a0Many students are left feeling isolated simply because of who they are, and this isolation can impact their academics, their motivation to succeed and their mental health. Being a member of CMHA-Niagara really motivated me to get involved, as the stigma around mental health causes people who deal with a variety of issues in this area to be overlooked and marginalized.\u201d
\n\u2014 Andrew Bassinghtwaighte, Career Consultant, Co-op Education<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cAs an alumna (BA ’10) and member of the Brock community, I\u2019m proud to have participated in this important work with students, faculty and staff. We learned a lot from each other through this exercise, and there are lessons for everyone in the report. The recommendations will support a stronger, more inclusive and respectful environment that will benefit everyone on campus and in the broader community.\u201d
\n\u2014 Julie Rorison, Executive Assistant to the Mayor of St. Catharines<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- “This is the first time the University has demonstrated the commitment to investigate issues of equity. The students consulted in developing this report could not have been more eloquent or more urgent in their demand that Brock attend to the impact of gender and racial violence and ableism. How Brock responds to this report will say a lot about us, as an institution committed to creating an equitable learning environment which seeks to enable students to succeed.\u201d
\n\u2014 Margot Francis, Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies\/Sociology<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cI believe the consultations merely scratch the surface of the myriad expressions\/aggressions of ableism, sexism and racism. We must acknowledge that these injustices are not simply personal experiences but embedded in attitudes, behaviours, practices and protocols, and we must question the consequences we create. The Task Force report calls for a commitment to demonstrate this thoughtfulness through meaningful action that values and respects difference.\u201d
\n\u2014 Leeann Cayer, graduate student (Applied Disability Studies)<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cThe Human Rights Task Force set a great precedent for youth engagement. I am passionate about engaging young people \u2014 oftentimes the direct beneficiaries of policies \u2014 in creating the policies that affect them. I was pleasantly surprised that my comments and contributions, as well as those of student organizations, were truly incorporated into the final report and throughout the process. This was a great step forward in Brock\u2019s work to be more transparent, and for students to be involved in high-level discussions.\u201d
\n\u2014 Aniqah Zowmi, undergraduate representative (BSc in Neurobiology); Youth Engagement Consultant and Advocate<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n- \u201cBeing the first initiative at Brock University to thoroughly examine human rights in our community, I believe that these final recommendations, when put into action, will assist in better addressing issues of sexual violence, racism, and ableism which will ultimately create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for students, staff, faculty, and the community.\u201d
\n\u2014 Samantha MacAndrew, graduate student (Social Justice and Equity Studies)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a year of meetings, hearings and consultations, the University\u2019s Human Rights Task Force (HRTF) has submitted its final report to Brock President Tom Traves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":42884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,4052,1],"tags":[182,2294,4419],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44960"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45000,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44960\/revisions\/45000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \u201cWe each have a role to play in being a part of a new culture that understands, respects and honours human dignity.\u00a0 As an institution of learning, Brock has a duty to care for and teach our students what their human rights and responsibilities are. An important part of that involves being aware of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code and how it relates to individuals. The Task Force report serves as a reminder of the protected grounds within the Human Rights Code.\u201d
- \u201cWe\u2019re in a good spot, this is an important roadmap for moving forward. Now steps need to be taken to ensure this report is more than a document that gathers dust on a shelf. We heard from people who were very candid in sharing their experiences, both the successes and the struggles.\u00a0My special thanks to members of the Task Force, resource personnel and union observers who dedicated themselves to this important initiative.<\/span>\u201d