Administrators respond to open letter on racism

The University of Calgary condemns all forms of racism, including anti-black and anti-indigenous bigotry, administrators wrote Wednesday in response to an open letter signed by more than 1,300 campus community members.

The open letter, penned more than two weeks ago, urged the school to take action against racism amid global protests precipitated by the death of George Floyd, an American Black man killed when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

“We are personally pained at the injustice of the deaths of George Floyd and all others that came before him, and unfortunately after, that are a direct result of police brutality — brutality that stems from systemic racism and institutional failure to hold perpetrators of race-based violence accountable,” read the letter, signed by the seven members of the school’s executive leadership team.

“There is systemic racism at Ucalgary and it is incumbent upon us to tackle this challenge with vigour and purpose.”

U of C president Ed Mccauley said Wednesday that he appreciated students bringing forward the letter.

He said work is ongoing to address racism on campus, with initiatives underway, including the hiring of Malinda Smith, the school’s incoming vice-provost of equity, diversity and inclusion.

“Through all the strategies and plans we have put in place over the last few years, we have aspired to create an environment where everyone feels safe, welcomed, respected and equal,” Mccauley said. “But we know as a team that much, much, much more needs to be done.”

The U of C response does not include details of specific anti-racism actions, saying it is instead about demonstrating a commitment to develop and launch initiatives.

Jusnoor Aujla, an undergraduate student at the U of C, is a member of the psychology department’s equity, diversity and inclusion committee, which started the open letter.

He said the group appreciated the response, but would have liked the school to more strongly address anti-racism.

“We thought the statement was well executed but that the university shouldn’t have needed an open letter to have come out with this kind of statement, explicitly against racism,” Aujla said.

“We don’t believe the open letter should have been necessary, but we had to do it because the university didn’t acknowledge it initially.”

Aujla praised the university for acknowledging a lack of diversity among its top-level administrators. The seven members of the U of C’s executive leadership team are all white.

He said that people adding their names to the open letter, which some may have been reluctant to do, demonstrates the need for concrete action, and accountability measures, on anti-racism at the U of C.

“The whole social context that’s been created by the Black Lives Matter movement has created more of a space for people to speak up,” Aujla said.

“I think the sheer number of signatures shows how that’s reflected in the greater student population, how they feel like they have a voice now.”

There is systemic racism at Ucalgary and it is incumbent upon us to tackle this challenge.