Celebrating Social Change on Campus - AMS Resource Groups present a Centennial Open House

Celebrating Social Change on Campus – AMS Resource Groups present a Centennial Open House

December 17, 2015

Celebrating Social Change on Campus – AMS Resource Groups present a Centennial Open House

January 14, 2016
4-7pm
AMS Student Nest, Resource Groups Centre (Rm. 2102)

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On January 14th, the AMS Resource Groups, in partnership with the UBC Equity and Inclusion Office, are very excited to host the Centennial Open House. Join us in celebrating many years of UBC student-led activism on social justice, environmental concerns, women’s issues, sexual and gender diversity, and inclusion for individuals with disabilities.

Come explore the Social Justice Centre, Student Environment Centre, Women’s Centre, Pride Collective, and Pathfinders and find out how UBC students can get involved.

We would like to acknowledge that our event is taking place on the stolen, occupied, and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam)people.

FEATURING:
4 PM – 5 PM

  • WALK THROUGH THE RESOURCE GROUPS SPACE
    Mix and mingle with us, and explore opportunities to take part in issues that matter to you!

5 PM – 6 PM

  • RECOUNTING 100 YEARS OF SOCIAL CHANGE: THE MAKING OF THE AMS RESOURCE GROUPS (Lev Bukhman Theatre (The Egg), Nest 2nd floor)
    Come hear the AMS Archivist, Sheldon Goldfarb, speak about the history of UBC student activism and Resource Groups! Afterwards, join the Resource Groups in a panel conversation about their past, present, and future plans to raise awareness and effect change on social issues relevant to the UBC community.

6 PM – 7 PM

  • RECEPTION
    Enjoy refreshments, connect with Resource Groups, and share thoughts about social change with fellow bright minds at UBC!

ONGOING (4 PM – 7 PM)

  • TIME CAPSULE: Dear UBC Students of the Future… (tentative)
    Have some thoughts about the future of diversity and activism at UBC? Record your own video message at our “time capsule” – messages will be archived for the UBC students of the future!

Share the event and spread the word with #AMSResourceGroups and #ubc100!

Our goal for the evening is to bring together the Resource Groups and UBC community, to think about previous and present efforts to bring change to our campus, and inspire student engagement to continue driving diversity at UBC for years to come. We can’t wait to see you there!

Events |

Next steps in initiatives related to sexual assault response and prevention

December 16, 2015

To: Faculty, staff and students in Vancouver and the Okanagan

UBC has retained Paula Butler of Butler Workplace Solutions as an independent reviewer to conduct a review of UBC’s response to concerns of sexual harassment and sexual assault raised by some UBC students about a fellow student, which became the subject of media coverage. A report will be ready in February and a summary will be made available to the UBC community.

A number of other initiatives to support the development of a sexual assault policy will be announced in January. Further information will be provided as it becomes available and regular updates will be posted to www.equity.ubc.ca.

As we head into the new year, I would also like to highlight that January is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). I encourage everyone to get involved in the 6th annual offering of SAAM, which features events and opportunities to participate in a dialogue about sexual assault and harassment. More details can be found at http://students.ubc.ca/livewell/topics/sexual-assault/sexual-assault-awareness-month

Most importantly for all of our community, I want to remind you about the resources available should you, or someone you know, disclose that they have been sexually assaulted. People are likely to disclose to someone they trust, therefore it is important that each member of our community knows how to effectively refer those who disclose to resources for support, accommodations, and reporting. For students, resources can be found at http://students.ubc.ca/livewell/topics/sexual-assault and for faculty and staff http://www.hr.ubc.ca/health/safety/sexual-assault-resources/.

 

Sara-Jane Finlay
Associate Vice President
Equity and Inclusion

News and Stories |

Inclusive celebrations and holidays this winter at UBC

December 10, 2015

Story by: Breeonne Baxter, UBC Human Resources

This winter at UBC, our community is celebrating Christmas as well as events and holidays from around the world. Our students and staff reflect a wonderfully diverse range of cultural backgrounds and faith identities and this time of year is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the cultures that make up our UBC community.

Some of the major events at this time of year are already underway. Hanukkah (Judaism) began earlier this week, Winter Solstice (Paganism), Mawlid an Nabi (Islam) and Christmas (Christianity) are in just a few weeks’ time. In February, we will see festivities for Lunar New Year (Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist). To see the full Days of Significance list, visit the Equity and Inclusion office website.

Join us in February 2016 when UBC celebrates the Year of the Monkey in grand style. The UBC Centennial Lunar New Year Festival is a great opportunity for the UBC community to get involved in one of the campus’ largest cultural events.

Ways to Celebrate in the Workplace

At this time of year, there is a great opportunity to celebrate the season together, in a respectful and positive way that includes everyone and can help us all build intercultural understanding.

  • Display a multi-cultural calendar in your workplace to raise awareness of important cultural/faith events and holidays throughout the entire year.
  • Celebrate all faiths present in your workplace.
  • Consider having a New Year’s celebration party instead of a holiday party in December.
  • Be flexible with the needs of different staff around faith and/or holiday celebrations.
  • In your workplace or at celebration events, bring together decorations and food from the different cultures in your workplace, and encourage staff to share stories about their favourite traditions.
  • Be respectful of religious holidays at this time of year when planning events and meetings. Check the Days of Significance calendar for some guidance.

Office Decorations

Here are some tips to make your office decorations inclusive and respectful of all cultures and beliefs:

  • Aim to maintain a neutral décor in the front-facing areas of your office
  • Ensure your office is accessible and make sure decorations do not prevent or block access to public services.
  • Consider how your office might celebrate dates significant to the members of your workplace community. When providing ideas for decorations, you can include Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Shinto holidays as well as Christmas. Refer to the Days of Significance calendar.
  • Invite staff from all faith identities to be involved in the office decorating discussion.
  • Set an agreed upon limit to the number of days that your office will display decorations, and have a discussion about what other times of year you might want to decorate, in celebration of other events.
  • Use the holidays as an opportunity to build community within your office, and with the people your office serves or supports.

If you are feeling excluded as a result of office celebrations, you are encouraged to reach out to a colleague or a supervisor and have a conversation about how you feel and how you would like your culture or beliefs to be included. At UBC we should all feel comfortable to share our culture and beliefs with others.

Alternately, you are welcome to contact the Equity and Inclusion Office or your HR Advisor to discuss.

We hope that this advice provides some suggestions on how to foster community and inclusivity at this time of year through encouraging the celebration of our many cultures and faiths on campus.

If you have suggestions or you would like to share your office’s inclusive decorations, please share a photo on twitter @EquityUBCV

Links

News and Stories |

Be a part of the UBC Centennial Lunar New Year Festival

December 4, 2015

We need your help to make the UBC Centennial Lunar New Year Festival 2016 a success!

We are looking for performers, information booths and volunteers. Sign up here.

Date: February 5, 2016
Time: 1-5pm
Location: AMS Student Nest, 6133 University Blvd
FREE ADMISSION!

Learn more about the festival

Join us in February 2016 when UBC celebrates the Year of the Monkey in grand style. The UBC Centennial Lunar New Year Festival is a great opportunity for the UBC community to get involved in one of the campus’ largest cultural events.

In partnership with: Asian Studies, Asian Library, UBC Equity and Inclusion Office, Institute of Asian Research, and UBC Recreation.

News and Stories |

UBC featured in CBC’s the fifth estate

November 25, 2015

A message from Martha C. Piper, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor

You may have seen media coverage, regarding UBC being featured in the fifth estate program about sexual assault and harassment on university campuses. We admire the courage of the women who came forward to bring attention to this crucial issue.

I want to apologize to the women in these cases who feel they have been let down by our university. While the university had to wait until it had the necessary facts to take action, I acknowledge that the process took too long. Due process can be frustrating and time-consuming. However, the university reached an appropriate conclusion. As an institution, we are committed to justice for the survivors of sexual assault.

I appreciate the light the women have shone on this issue, and I want to make a pledge. We will begin a discussion with our students, faculty and staff on a separate sexual assault policy that will enable the university to take action in a more timely and effective manner.

We will be reviewing the steps that were taken in these cases to determine how they might have been handled more effectively and expeditiously. As an institution, we are constantly looking at ways to improve our processes to make them more responsive and effective.

We recognize that sexual assault can happen to anyone – not just our students. Support resources for faculty and staff are available.

In addition, there are general resources to support your safety on campus.

Finally, let me be clear – sexual violence is unacceptable and is not tolerated at UBC. Students who have been found to have committed sexual assault following due process will be expelled from the university. Staff or faculty members who have been found to have committed sexual assault following due process will be terminated.

News and Stories |

Participate in these Dec 6 Events

November 17, 2015

Dec6-events-web

On December 6, 1989, an armed man entered an Engineering class at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. After he forced the men to leave, he said he ‘hated feminists’ and began shooting the women students in the class. He continued onto the rest of the school, firing at women on the campus. At the end of his rampage, he had murdered 14 women and committed suicide.

In response to such acts of violence, Canada established December 6 as the National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women. It is a reminder of this national tragedy, and provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of gender-based violence across the country.

At UBC, we want to recognize that violence against women is an ongoing reality, influenced not only by sexism, but also by poverty, racial discrimination, colonialism, and other factors. While we remember this tragic event and honor the women who died, we also want to think critically about why we remember this act as a national tragedy, when so many acts of violence against women are not memorialized in this way.

Remember-14-banner
CBC Montreal – Remember the 14 website

2015 Events

Silent Witnesses
Life-sized silhouettes representing the 14 women will be displayed on campus.
Date: December 1-3

White Ribbon Pancake Breakfast
Join SPD for a pancake breakfast, complete with maple syrup and fruit, to spread awareness about the December 6 campaign and 14 Not Forgotten.

Date: Wednesday, December 2
Time: 7:30 am
Location: The Fred Kaiser Building (Wayfinding at UBC)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/192768614396147/

Hosted by Sigma Phi Delta (Engineering fraternity)

14 Not Forgotten Memorial Ceremony
Join us on December 3rd at 12:30pm in the EDC Courtyard as we remember the 14 women who lost their lives.

Date: Thursday, December 3
Time: 12:30pm – 1pm
Location: Engineering Design Courtyard
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/930028013755840/

Mass shootings, Masculinity, and Misogyny: 26 Years After Ecole Polytechnique What’s Changed?
27 years after the mass shooting of 14 women at École Polytechnique de Montréal, we look back and reflect on what has changed? In this panel discussion we will explore the topic of mass shootings, masculinity and misogyny.

Date: Thursday, December 3
Time: 12-1:30pm
Location: AMS STUDENT NEST Room 2508
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/949358401815878/

Hosted by Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC)

Candlelight Vigil
Stop by and light a candle to remember the events of December 6, 1989 and acknowledge the impacts that gender-based violence has on all of us.

Date: Friday, December 4
Time: 11am-3pm
Location:AMS STUDENT NEST concourse
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1029727173761167/

Hosted by Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC)

Events |

Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 9, 2015

TDOR-Nov9
Join The Pride Collective at UBC, the AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC), and the UBC Equity & Inclusion Office for a week of discussion, expression, and resistance for the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The first Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) occurred in 1999 after the murder of Rita Hester, a black trans woman, in November 1998. TDoR is an annual event on November 20th that honours those who have been lost to violence as a result of transphobia, as well as recognizes the ongoing violence and oppression that trans people continue to face. We acknowledge that this definition does not sufficiently encompass the intersections of violence in people’s lives, and particularly the disproportionate amount of violence that impacts trans women, trans feminine folk, and trans people of colour, as well as the greater complexities of violence as a whole. However, this is still a significant and important day to remember who we have lost, to support who is still here, and to reflect on the work that still needs to be done.

See the full event listing on facebook

SCHEDULE:

Monday, November 16
– Visit us in the Nest Concourse (exact location TBA) for more information on TDoR and our organizations, and to participate in a “What Colour is Your Gender?” activity.

Tuesday, November 17
– Film Screening (“Paris is Burning”) and Discussion, 6:00-8:30, Nest Performance Theatre

Friday, November 20
– Intra Trans Solidary Discussion, 1:30-2:30, NEST 2521 (open to all folks who identify under the umbrella terms of transgender and/or gender non-conforming, or who are questioning)
– Allyship Discussion, 1:30-2:30, NEST 2515 (open to both trans/gender non-conforming folks and allies)
– Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil and open mic, 3:00-4:30, Nest Art Gallery

After the UBC vigil and open mic, you are invited to join us at the Vancouver Trans Day of Remembrance march and ceremony (https://www.facebook.com/events/775188259258829/).

Events |

Consider this when choosing your Halloween costume

October 22, 2015

Halloween party season is just around the corner and many students at UBC are planning their costumes. The Equity and Inclusion Office would like students to consider their costume choices and to remind everyone that:

culture is not a costume

Read: When Halloween costumes cross the line, with UBC Faculty of Education professor Mona Gleason.

It is important to consider your choices before you dress up and be aware of the hurtful racist or sexist stereotypes that are sometimes portrayed in costumes. For whatever reason, this is the one time of year when it is often perceived to be OK to be blatantly and unabashedly racist, and in many cases sexist. Racist and sexist stereotypes aren’t funny, and culture, ethnicity, and race shouldn’t be considered as costumes.

Everyone can do their part to create a respectful environment at UBC. We encourage you to share the information widely on social media and with your clubs, fraternities, sororities, residences and classrooms.

Best wishes for a safe and respectful Halloween.

The Equity and Inclusion Office

News and Stories |

Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Scholars’ Series

October 22, 2015

Race-Literacies-web

Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Scholars’ Series

Annette Henry from UBC’s Department of Language and Literacy is organizing an exciting series of forums with renowned Black Canadian scholars in 2015-16. Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Scholars’ Series will feature two scholars engaging in a dialogue with each other and with the audience about their work and issues of race and social justice. After each forum there will be opportunities for small group discussions with students regarding curriculum and research in Canadian Black Studies.

The series launches on November 12 with an afternoon and evening event. Christina Sharpe, Associate professor at Tufts University will speak at 2 pm at St. Johns College, UBC Vancouver. The evening event—the official launch of the series— features poet and novelist Dionne Brand and novelist and critic David Chariandy in conversation at SFU’s Beedie School of Business in downtown Vancouver at 7 pm. Both events are co-sponsored by UBC and SFU.

To RSVP for these events: bit.do/RaceLiteracies

Annette Henry said “We hope this series will promote new teaching and research relationships with UBC/SFU professors interested in teaching/learning and researching in the area of Black studies as well as a transforming disciplinary knowledge. There is exciting research being done that is rarely included in the curriculum. The curriculum we share with students is important for them to understand themselves, their communities and society from informed perspectives.”

Upcoming events in the Race Literacies series:

January 2015: Rinaldo Walcott (Director, Women and Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto) and Katherine McKittrick (Women’s Studies and Geography, Queens University)

March 2015: Malinda Smith (Political Science, University of Alberta) and David Austin Humanities, Philosophy and Religion, John Abbott College)

May 2015: UBC Black scholars Denise Ferreira da Silva, Phanuel Antwi and Handel Wright and Annette Henry will present a forum.

Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Speakers Series is funded by a UBC Equity Enhancement Grant and co-sponsored by the English Department at Simon Fraser University. Other UBC sponsors include the Department of Language and Literacy Education, the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education, the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice and the Jane Rule Endowment for the Study of Human Relationships.

Events |

Launch events for Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Speakers Series

October 15, 2015

The University of British Columbia & Simon Fraser University Present: Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Speakers Series

Christina-Sharpe

Christina Sharpe at UBC

Christina Sharpe, is Associate Professor of English, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Tufts University. She is the author of two books: Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects (2010) and In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (forthcoming). She is currently working on a project provisionally titled Thinking Juxtapositionally.

In The Weather, Sharpe will think some of the ecologies of anti-blackness and resistance to them in the afterlives of slavery, in the wake of the slave ship and the migrant ship.

November 12, 2015
The Social Lounge,
St. John’s college, UBC.
2111 Lower Mall V6T 1Z4

14:00 – 15:00 Talk
15:15 – 16:00 Graduate Students Q and A with light refreshments

Click here to reserve.

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An evening with Dionne Brand and David Chariandy at SFU

David Chariandy, novelist and critic, interviews Dionne Brand, award winning poet, novelist and essayist. Her writing is notable for the beauty of its language, and for its intense engagement with issues of social justice. She has won the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award for Poetry, the Trillium Book Award and the Toronto Book Award. In 2006, Brand received the Harbourfront Festival Prize for her contribution to the world of books and writing. From 2009-2012 she was The Poet Laureate of the City of Toronto. Brand is Professor and University Research Chair in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.

November 12, 2015
Beedie School of Business
(Segal Building) SFU
500 Granville Street

19:00 – 21:00
Reception to follow

Click here to reserve.
Event is free. Space is limited

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This inaugural event of UBC’s Race Literacies: A Black Canadian Speakers Series is funded by a UBC Equity Enhancement Grant and co-sponsored by the English Department at Simon Fraser University. Other UBC sponsors include the Department of Language and Literacy Education, the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education, the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice and the Jane Rule Endowment for the Study of Human Relationships.

Artwork: Something Mother Said About Snakes by Afuwa Granger.

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