University of Windsor law faculty passes sentence on campus racism
Administration providing students resources, legal tools to fight racism
The law faculty at the University of Windsor has outlined various initiatives to tackle anti-black racism on campus, including establishing a roster of lawyers available to Black-identifying students seeking help making a complaint.
“Windsor Law's administration is committed to tackling anti-black racism, anti-indigenous racism, other forms of racism, anti-semitism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and all other forms of discrimination, including intersectional discrimination, at the law school,” reads a statement posted Monday on the university website.
Names listed at the bottom of the statement were Faculty of Law dean Christopher Waters and associate deans Beverly Jacobs and Laverne Jacobs.
“Anti-black racism (ABR) has been a particularly serious issue on our campus,” said the statement, intended to explain what Windsor Law is doing and needs to do to address anti-black racism on campus.
Windsor Law said it gratefully acknowledges that much of the anti-black racism work on campus has been done by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) students, faculty, and staff, including members of Windsor Law's
Black Law Students Association and the Law Faculty's Anti-black Racism Committee which was established five months ago.
With regard to student safety, the faculty said it has established a roster of lawyers available to Black-identifying students who wish to have legal representation when making a complaint or statement to campus police or the Windsor Police Service.
The post referred to the university's independent investigation into alleged racial slurs made by members of the Delta Chi Fraternity and law students who received threatening or hateful emails related to that.
It also referenced an independent review of discrimination and bullying in the university's online learning environment.
The post noted how a clinical therapist was hired in the spring and dedicated to Black-identifying students, as well as the creation of $100,000 in bursaries and scholarships for Black students.
“This is not of course an exhaustive list of ABR initiatives and issues that we need to tackle as a community,” the statement reads. “Among other things, we will provide updates on recognizing and supporting the work of BIPOC faculty, enhancing courses with ABR content, regularising a speaker series with Black-identifying scholars, and honouring the African-canadian contributions to our law school and the legal community in the renovated building.”
Work on a $30-million renovation of the Ron W. Ianni law building began this month.