Students advocating for students: TRSS launches EDI Well-Being Space, receives national recognition

Ramadan can be a challenging time for students to find accommodation for religious observances of all kinds. But, a group of Ted Rogers School of Management students developed a new space on campus and members of the student community describe it as a game-changer. 

Launched in February, the EDI Well-Being Space (external link)  is a safe, inclusive space located on the 7^th floor of the Ted Rogers School of Management for students, staff and faculty to pray, meditate, reflect, bereave, or find quiet. It was sponsored by the Ted Rogers Students' Society (TRSS) and led by their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee after outreach to the student community last fall.

The space took eight months from initial conversation to launch, and is tangible evidence of the effort and hard work students have done to advocate for students. 

Toronto Metropolitan has one multi-faith room on the third floor of Oakham House, which provides a quiet atmosphere for prayer, worship and meditation. But, it's often crowded with long lineups and, given it is a 10 minute walk from the Ted Rogers School, not always convenient in the middle of a busy school day. 

For close to a decade, there have been students asking for a space like the EDI Well-Being Room in the Ted Rogers School, said Husnaa Zamarai, business management director on the Ted Rogers Students' Society EDI committee. The EDI committee’s role is to find different means of promoting equity, diversity and inclusion, and creating a more accessible space for students at the Ted Rogers School. 

“We were seeing and hearing from students, faculty, and staff members of the building that some students were praying in the stairwells, which is both inconvenient and poses a safety hazard,” she said. 

Last fall, the committee did research and a survey within the school community to assess the needs. Their research found that the eight largest universities across Ontario averaged five multi-faith spaces on and around their campuses. Over 600 people across Toronto Metropolitan University responded to the survey.

“In the end, over 99 per cent of respondents were in favour of having a space similar to what we had proposed,” Zamarai said. “It was exciting to see our thoughts being validated by the actual data.”

The committee anonymized and presented the data to the Office of the Dean to show that there was a need for a well-being space. They spoke with Ted Rogers School facilities management to confirm the campus had capacity. They received unanimous support from the TRSS board of directors to fund the space. 

“It's quite rare for an initiative like this to be advocated for by students, implemented by students and completely funded by a students’ society,” Zamarai said. 

There have been over 1,000 uses of the EDI Well-Being Space since it launched in late February 2023. 

“When I first pitched the idea, I did not anticipate at all how far it would've gone and the extent of the impact it would have,” Zamarai said. “Honestly, it was so rewarding working on this because we were excited while we were doing it. I definitely think it is a game changer because since the launch, there has been an outpouring of positive feedback and more conversations on where else in the university a space like this is needed.”

The launch of this initiative was led by the efforts of the following six EDI committee members: Malak Jammal, Azhar Osman, Asad Salman, Gogigan Srithar, Shershah (Sheru) Yousafzai, and Husnaa Zamarai