These working groups will strive to respond to the structural and cultural complexity of our University. We have so many different communities, buildings, faculties, departments, student groups, activist groups, unions, staff teams, partners, and other stakeholders at uOttawa, that one-size-fits-all solutions are rarely feasible, or desirable. Instead we must ensure that the map of our strategic solutions aligns with the specific contours of our challenges, while our values and principles remain constant.
Over the past month I have made it a priority to focus on renewing mutual trust among key stakeholders, for without trust progress will be impossible. We recently held a series of highly productive encounters at which the President and Provost, the Administrative Committee, Deans, the USOU, GSAED and many BIPOC faculty engaged in open and candid discussions about how best to confront and overcome racism on campus. These meetings are the first steps in a continuing dialogue designed to rebuild trust and establish a common vision, vocabulary and set of expectations for lasting change.
To further establish this sense of trust within the BIPOC community itself, I want you to know that my office is a safe space for conversation and a place where you are welcome to share your concerns. Although I have been appointed to this role by the administration, I am responsible to our entire community. Happily, this message has been getting out, as I can attest by the increasing number of people who have contributed suggestions of all kinds. In particular, I would like to give a shout out to the many enthusiastic BIPOC student athletes who have recently shared with me their passion and ideas for building a better uOttawa for all.
Despite the very real challenges we face, I have also come to see that one reason many BIPOC students, faculty and staff have lost faith in the administration’s commitment to change is that not enough is known about steps that have already been taken to promote equity, diversity and inclusion at uOttawa. Are those steps enough? No. Do they balance out the systemic discrimination and racism that we are actively looking to eliminate? No. And yet they are nonetheless significant, sincere, and worthy of acknowledgement and appreciation.
I strongly believe that the University of Ottawa is committed to fundamental change. I hope that by sharing more actively the steps that are being taken today – and those we will take together tomorrow – that this commitment will be more widely understood and embraced.
Finally, I want to point out that I have chosen to adopt the term Inclusive Excellence in my work as Special Advisor. This term is proactive, aspirational, and challenges us to take Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at uOttawa to the next level. Our goal must not be merely more BIPOC inclusion, but more BIPOC excellence. And our actions must be designed to welcome, support, and accompany that journey to excellence, to the benefit of one and all.
Boulou Ebanda de B’Béri
Special Advisor on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence