Confronting Anti-Black Racism
Systemic anti-Black racism permeates nearly every institution across Canada, and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is no exception. This reality often subjects Black students, faculty, and staff to discriminatory outcomes, such as systemic exclusion, experiences of individual racism, racial microaggressions, chronic underrepresentation across the university, and inequitable course content and delivery.
The Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion (OVPECI), recognizes that while we have made some progress towards furthering equity, diversity, and inclusion at TMU, we still need to do more. To this end, the OVPECI provides leadership to dismantle inequalities, remove access barriers, and address systemic issues throughout TMU, including supporting the university’s commitment to confront anti-Black racism and cultivate Black flourishing.
The OVPECI's role in supporting TMU’s commitment to confronting anti-Black racism
The OVPECI is instrumental in cultivating an inclusive university environment through its leadership in programs, initiatives, and teams that advance the university's commitment to ensure sustainable social progress and racial equality are actively pursued and embedded in every aspect of campus life.
Key initiatives and areas of impact
Leadership of the 2020 Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review
In 2010, the (PDF file) Anti-Racism Task Force released a report that examined systemic racism and barriers on campus and made recommendations to create a more inclusive campus environment for all students, faculty, and staff to study, work, and teach. In 2018, the Black Liberation Collective student group raised new concerns regarding the prevalence of anti-Black racism on campus.
In 2019, former Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, Denise O’Neil Green, initiated the Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review gathered from focus groups that interviewed over 60 Black-identified students, staff, and faculty to better understand their experiences at TMU. In 2020, the OVPECI published the Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report. This evidence-based and action-oriented report highlights collective experiences of anti-Black racism at TMU and makes 14 recommendations for tangible next steps to create a safer and more inclusive campus environment.
- where everyone feels they belong,
- that is reflective of our school’s entire population and
- where people feel welcomed, valued, seen and heard.
TMU honours the Black students, faculty and staff who shared their personal experiences with the university as well as the changes they would like to see on campus.
Leadership on the Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism
Following the OVPECI’s Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report, TMU announced the formation of the Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism (PICCABR). Executive co-chair of the PICCABR, Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, Tanya De Mello — alongside her co-chairs Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, and Saeed Zolfaghari, Vice-President, Administration and Operations — collaborates with Black and non-Black individuals across the university dedicated to facilitating TMU’s implementation of the 14 recommendations.
In 2023, the PICCABR finalized action plans to fully implement student, faculty, and staff recommendations, fulfilling its original mandate. However, the work is far from over; its future has shifted from a project-based model to an institutionalized one, inviting aligned departments across the university to uptake recommendations. Under this change, the three executive co-chairs will support department heads and jointly make strategic decisions about PICCABR's work.
The OVPECI supports the coordination and management of PICCABR, which will be decentralized to divisions and departments, and will continue to oversee the implementation of each Climate Review recommendation. In doing so, TMU aims to ensure that commitments and initiatives extend beyond any one project and become embedded in the daily operations, strategic vision and, ultimately, the fabric of the institution.
OVPECI’s five areas of work to support confronting anti-Black racism
The OVPECI has consulted and collaborated with cross-campus partners to help implement the Climate Review recommendations. This includes introducing, sustaining and expanding a range of cross-cutting measures to drive the university’s work to confront anti-Black racism across five areas:
- partnerships and collaboration
- education and awareness
- public engagement and communications
- research and policy, and
- governance and leadership
Building strong, respectful relationships with community partners is essential to our work at TMU and our efforts to confront anti-Black racism and cultivate Black flourishing.
Key highlights:
- Viola Desmond Awards and Bursary Program: For the last 16 years, and with further efforts in 2024 alongside the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, the OVPECI and Viola Desmond planning committee has led the Viola Desmond Awards and Bursary Program to recognize the self-determination, resistance, leadership, and legacies of Black women and gender-diverse people who are keeping Viola Desmond’s legacy of resilience and resistance alive.
- Black Excellence Committee events: The OVPECI initiated the Black Excellence Committee in 2019, bringing together partners from across the campus to host events like the Black Excellence Graduation Celebration and Black Excellence Mixer. These events mobilized the broader university in commemoration of the accomplishments of Black students and supported intergenerational community building amongst Black faculty and staff. The Black Excellence Committee also includes the Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism, Office of the Vice-Provost, Students (Tri-Mentoring Program and Student Life Programs), and Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (Talent Management Centre of Expertise).
- Black Student Lounge (BSL): The OVPECI created the BSL in 2019, a space on campus where Black students can recharge, foster connection, and feel a sense of belonging.
- Human Resources: The OVPECI partners with Human Resources on a range of projects related to the staff recommendations from the Climate Review and beyond. This includes supporting the development of new compensation practices and policies and an EDI knowledge and action framework program linked to professional development, growth, and learning.
- Community Safety and Security: The OVPECI partners with Community Safety and Security to integrate a confronting anti-Black racism lens into operations and processes. This includes embedding anti-Black racism awareness into the onboarding process for new safety and security staff on campus.
- School of Medicine: The OVPECI partners with the School of Medicine on a variety of equity, diversity, and inclusion-related initiatives, including establishing the role of the Black Health Lead. Positioned within the senior leadership team and executive committee, the Black Health Lead provides direction to confront anti-Black racism within the faculty by developing long-term strategies, developing a curriculum that focuses on Black health, establishing a Black learners admission stream, and strengthening the relationship between the School of Medicine and Black communities and organizations to promote Black flourishing in the School of Medicine.
- Anti-Black racism-focused EDI training sessions and workshops: Following the Climate Review’s recommendation for campus-wide training, over 16 customized training sessions and workshops were developed and delivered across the university by the Anti-Black Racism Education and Awareness Facilitator, OVPECI. These trainings included focusing on anti-Black racism in areas such as unconscious bias, microaggressions, EDI principles, intersectionality, and inclusive teaching, learning, and hiring. The sessions engaged almost 2,000 students, faculty, staff, leaders, and alums in theoretical and practical learning modules across multiple departments at TMU.
- Group training on anti-Black racism to resolve complaints of discrimination and harassment: OVPECI’s Human Rights Services unit also provides individual and group training on anti-Black racism to resolve complaints received under the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy.
- 60th anniversary of the Ontario Human Rights Code: In 2022, the Human Rights Services unit in the OVPECI, the Lincoln Alexander School of Law and the Ontario Human Rights Commission hosted a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the Ontario Human Rights Code, which included sessions on anti-Black racism and race-based discrimination and a presentation from the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit.
Through the work of the Communications Specialist, Anti-Black Racism, the OVPECI has:
- Developed educational content on TMU websites, newsletters, and social channels to raise awareness of the work of TMU members who are actively confronting anti-Black racism and cultivating Black flourishing.
- Promoted events and initiatives that center Black students, faculty and staff, such as the Viola Desmond Awards and Bursary program and Black Excellence Committee events.
- Raised awareness about key initiatives undertaken by the OVPECI and PICCABR’s Student, Staff and Faculty Working Groups to confront anti-Black racism and cultivate Black flourishing.
- Created educational content, including the Discourse Docs series.
- Diversity Self-ID Data: OVPECI’s Research, Planning, and Assessment unit collects, analyzes, and reports Diversity Self-ID data of students and employees at TMU, which supports work on increasing representation, recruitment, and retention of students, faculty, and staff from six equity-deserving groups: women, racialized people, Indigenous Peoples, Black people, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQ+ people. Black people were added as a distinct equity-deserving group in 2022, and reporting now explicitly includes publicly available data on Black students, faculty, and staff to inform decision-making at TMU.
- Supporting audit of Black, African, and Caribbean-centred content: The OVPECI supported an internal course audit and environmental scan completed by PICCABR that identified Black teaching staff and found 116 courses with Black, African, and Caribbean-centred content. The goal was to ensure all undergraduate and graduate programs offer courses that center Black experiences, promote Black scholarship and apply anti-Black racism principles in teaching and learning.
- Research and best practices: The OVPECI conducts consultations and research on best practices and emerging trends in anti-Black racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion work in North America.
- Leadership in implementing Climate Review recommendations: The OVPECI provides leadership in implementing the 14 recommendations from the Climate Review to ensure that anti-Black racism initiatives are embedded in the university's daily operations and strategic vision for lasting impact.
- Responding to complaints of anti-Black racism: OVPECI’s Human Rights Services unit administers the university’s confidential complaint resolution process under the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy. The office receives complaints related to anti-Black racism and works to resolve them by addressing individual incidents of anti-Black racism and concerns about systemic anti-Black racism within TMU’s learning and working environments. The complaint resolution processes may include investigations or alternative resolutions of complaints, and the office also incorporates restorative justice principles and approaches in its work. In 2022, Human Rights Services hired a Senior Resolution Officer and Investigator with specialized expertise in anti-Black racism to enhance the office’s alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice offerings through an anti-Black racism lens. This position was made permanent by the university in 2023.
Reporting on TMU’s progress in the 2024 Cultivating Black Flourishing Report
In 2024, the third anniversary of the Climate Review, the PICCABR published the report, Cultivating Black Flourishing: The PICCABR Three-Year Milestone Report and Beyond. The report highlights the progress made in implementing the 14 recommendations from the 2020 Climate Review and dismantling systemic anti-Black racism at TMU. It also provides a roadmap for sustaining and advancing these efforts.
The themes that characterize TMU’s approach to cultivating Black flourishing over the last four years include:
- enabling more Black-centred research and innovation and promoting culturally relevant learning and teaching
- supporting Black-centred initiatives and events
- ensuring equitable recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion, as well as advancement, achievement, and recognition of Black students, faculty, and staff
- strengthening university-wide EDI competency and developing resources and mentorship.
The report offers an opportunity to reflect on how our understanding of the work has evolved. In doing so, it captures ongoing efforts to confront anti-Black racism at the university from a holistic lens beyond the work of PICCABR.
We invite all community members to read the Cultivating Black Flourishing: The PICCABR Three-Year Milestone Report and Beyond to learn more.
For students
For faculty and staff
For students, faculty, and staff
Human Rights Services is available to offer support and coaching and to provide you with information so that you understand your options regarding human rights concerns. If you choose to file a complaint, we are available to guide you through the process.
Learn more
Learn more about Confronting Anti-Black Racism at TMU.
Questions?
Please contact the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion at equity@torontomu.ca.