How Western University plans to tackle racism on campus

Amendola attended Western University for Environmental Science before dropping out amid John's trial

Western recently hired a new coordinator for their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Education. The coordinator will be responsible for rolling out educational resources on anti-racism for staff and student leaders on campus, beginning as early as September.

VP of Student Experience, Jennifer Massey said that the plan began to take form shortly after her arrival six months ago.

“The plan there is for them to help educate the campus community on how we can all participate in disrupting inequalities,” she said.

Massey said that in the last week, following the global protests against racism, that the Student Experience Instagram has already been making resources available.

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Western Student Experience is hosting a 2-hour virtual community of care group for self-identified Black students at Western to have space where members can come together to express their feelings, validate emotions and experiences, and gain valuable skills and tools to take care of themselves and their well-being. * * * This event will be led by Asma Ali, a Registered Psychotherapist to help hold space and process the weight of the many complex emotions that we are feeling and carrying right now. * * * Click on the link in our bio to register and join us tomorrow. Please note: Students do not have to insert their full name and can use any email to register for the session. Turning on your camera is optional. ⠀ ⠀ Although we want to create space for students to come together, for personal privacy and confidentiality reasons this is not a virtual counselling session. ⠀ ⠀ For those students who would like to access counselling support, you can do so by booking a 1:1 appointment with Western Health & Wellness. Those who are experiencing racial trauma can access a safe and compassionate space to talk about their experiences in private and receive support without necessarily needing to contextualize. We are in support of your well-being. Go to http://www.uwo.ca/se/digital/health⠀ ⠀ You can also access Good2Talk—a free, confidential service for Ontario post-secondary students, available 24/7/365. Call: 1-866-925-5454 or Text: GOOD2TALKON to 686868.⠀ ⠀ #WesternU #CommunityofCare

A post shared by Western Student Experience (@westernustudentexperience) on Jun 4, 2020 at 2:27pm PDT

“We’re also integrating anti-racist training into all student leadership programs that are run by Student Experience,” she said.

Western University is no stranger to racist incidents. Just last year, a professor used the N-word in a lecture, and the student who called him out for his language was met with hateful and racist emails from other students.

But Massey said that the issues run much deeper than a few isolated incidents.

“Universities and colleges across North America are becoming more mindful…of the ways in which our policies, practices and procedures either can help move diverse groups of students through systems or inadvertently create challenges,” she said.

In a statement from Massey on May 31, Massey said:

As I have said previously, there is very real systemic racism embedded in the fabric of our society that affects thoughts, choices, and actions – which we have seen on vivid display this week. These are not isolated incidents, and this is why it is important to acknowledge that Black lives matter.

Massey said that her experience at different institutions has helped her learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to race equality on campus. She notes that student leadership, in particular, is often not reflective of campus diversity.

“Our student leaders play a very valuable role in fostering a culture on campus,” she said. “And they also occupy important seats at tables that influence decision making. If the student body is not as reflected as it could be in terms of the students that occupy those leadership roles, I think we have a lot of work to do.”

Recently, a petition has been growing in popularity with nearly 5,000 signatures, calling for anti-racist/anti-oppression courses to be mandatory for all students in order to graduate. Massey said that it might be challenging to mobilize such an idea, but that Western did have a responsibility to educate its students and make campus safe for everyone.

“Many of our students already take courses where this content is included, others may not,” she said. “So are there opportunities to potentially integrate this into the curriculum? Perhaps.”

She said that Student Experience can and will do more to provide mandatory education through the services they provide, like student orientation.