2020 – 2021 NEWS
UPDATES / TIMELINE
June 25, 2021
ARAO Committee member Tyler Greenleaf has been named to U of T’s Division of University Advancement Office’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. The EDI Task Force aims to embed equity, diversity and inclusion best practices across all advancement functions within the University of Toronto tri-campus community. The Task Force will make recommendations for principles, strategies, outcomes, goals and measures that articulate a comprehensive and meaningful commitment to the values of equity, diversity and inclusion in Advancement at U of T, and that provide a pathway for implementation. The final report of the task force is expected to be completed at the end of September 2021.
June 9, 2021
Following a recommendation to the Dean and the Senior Leadership Group from the ARAO Committee as well as to address request #4 of 4 in the FMUA Open Letter “to add the role of an in-house Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer within the Faculty of Music.”, the Faculty of Music has been given permission and budget support from the Provost to recruit a Human Resources – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion specialist. We expect that the hiring process will take place over the summer with a person in the role in Fall 2021.
June 2, 2021
The Anti-Racism Anti-Oppression (ARAO) committee of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music stands in solidarity with the Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association (FMUA) and those who have signed the Open Letter. We hear you and pledge to work with you towards concrete change in university policies to better protect all students.
May 27, 2021
The Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association released an Open Letter on May 23 and is endorsed by the ARAO Committee.
Dean Don McLean released a statement in response to the FMUA Open Letter – “We pledge to take immediate and ongoing actions to prioritize and enhance student safety.”
May 7, 2021
Noon: The ARAO Committee co-chairs issue a message to the Faculty of Music community “to reaffirm our position of zero tolerance for sexual harassment and sexual violence”.
9:00 AM: Dean Don McLean issues a message to the Faculty of Music community.
1 PM: Chair of Voice Studies Monica Whicher issues a message to members of the U of T Voice Studies Community.
2 PM: Opera Area Head Sandra Horst issues a letter to the U of T Opera Community.
April 15, 2021
From UofT News: “The University of Toronto’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force has delivered its final report, which includes more than 50 action-oriented measures and solutions to tackle anti-Black racism and promote Black inclusion and excellence on the university’s three campuses. The university administration has accepted all 56 recommendations.”
April 8, 2021
U of T Jazz Studies has recently posted an update to their AREDI Committee Action update, available here.
March 25, 2021
Congratulations to FoMARA and their collaboration with the Faculty of Music Library on their online exhibit Polyphony: Diversity in Music!
“Polyphony: Diversity in Music fosters dialogue with BIPOC/racialized musicians, highlighting these individuals’ voices alongside the works and people who inspire them. Throughout this exhibit, we seek to create a safe space for U of T students and faculty to equally engage with issues of diversity in music in a North American context.”
February 19, 2021
The Centre for Indigenous Studies and the Worlding Initiative, University of Toronto are co-hosting a roundtable on February 26 from noon- 2pm: Decolonizing the University and Treaty Responsibilities
On Nov 18, 2020, Professors Susan Hill and Pamela Klassen presented a resolution to the Arts and Science council that “calls on Faculty leadership and administration, as well as the whole Faculty community, to better understand our treaty obligations. More specifically, it calls for reflecting on past and current efforts of the Six Nations, as well as other Indigenous Nations, on whose traditional land the University and the Faculty are situated, to remind us of our ongoing treaty responsibilities.”
Following the call to share the resolution with students and faculty, we have created a link for the resolution together with an informative article by Professor Susan Hill on Treaty relations.
The purpose of the Roundtable is to engage in collective reflection on the resolution and how we can support it. As Indigenous and settler scholars based at U of T whose research takes us into different corners of the world we are often positioned as guests on someone else’s land. While visiting, we take on the responsibility of learning about the history of our hosts; we observe their rules and respect their jurisdiction. What would it take for all of us to engage seriously in “visitor” practices vis a vis our Indigenous hosts here at U of T? What does it mean to live and work on Treaty Lands? What opportunities do we have to leverage our positions as employees, as students, and as faculty to act on the resolution’s call for us to meet “our ongoing treaty responsibilities”?
Roundtable chair: Cheryl Suzack, English and Indigenous Studies
Panelists: Michelle Daigle, Susan Hill and Pamela Klassen
Please register for the roundtable
When: Feb 26, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
January 28, 2021
The initial Call to Action from U of T Music alumni had three requests for the strategic planning process. The third request was “A commitment to allocating increased and ongoing funding towards regularly-occurring professional development training for faculty and staff in the fields of a) anti-oppression, b) workplace harassment and c) diverse pedagogy- and curriculum-planning.”
The Faculty is hosting an Anti-Racism Training Workshop on February 25, 2021 and a Sexual and Gender Diversity Workshop on March 25, 2021 (previous Sexual and Gender Diversity Workshops have been held for Faculty of Music faculty and staff in previous years). Faculty of Music faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to attend. Log in details may be found in the January 26 Faculty Council meeting reports. These training workshops will continue to be made available each year.
December 17, 2020
The ARAO Committee has established a Statement for the Faculty of Music that was confirmed by the Committee on December 11.
October 28, 2020
The establishment of the Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Committee was approved by Faculty Council on September 29. Almost all faculty positions for the ARAO Committee have been filled and were approved at the October 27 Faculty Council meeting. Professor Bina John and Professor Midori Koga are the committee co-chairs. Staff and student positions will be filled in the subsequent month.
September 23, 2020
From an announcement from the Provost’s Office: “The University of Toronto is establishing an institutional Anti-Black Racism Task Force that will develop and propose a set of actionable recommendations to the President, Vice-President & Provost, and the Vice- President, Human Resources & Equity.
The task force will focus on identifying the barriers experienced by Black students, staff, faculty, librarians, instructors, and researchers across the University. It will also examine previous reports, consultations, and feedback from the University community on anti-Black racism.
The task force will review University processes, practices, and policies to understand how they impact systemic anti-Black racism on campus. The actionable steps that will be presented to the President, Provost, and Vice-President will be built on the ongoing equity and inclusion work implemented by various University units and additional consultation with the University community. We expect that the recommended changes will strengthen the University of Toronto’s mandate to create a more respectful, equitable, diverse, and inclusive community. The task force’s final report will be presented by March 31, 2021.”
September 17, 2020
The University of Toronto and Canadian universities and colleges across the country are coming together to facilitate a national conversation to develop concrete actions for change in higher education and in our communities. The National Dialogues are a series of national forums focused on addressing equity and inclusion in Canadian post-secondary education. The first in the series is a National Dialogue that will focus on anti-Black racism and Black inclusion in Canadian higher education, and will take place on Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2, 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. (ET).
September 16, 2020
The AREDI workgroup met multiple times in August and created 5 goals (see Action) and also created document that outlines a proposed Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Committee (includes membership, quorum, meetings, and purview and functions sections). This proposal was sent to the Dean and the Senior Leadership Group for comment and discussion. Next step will involve feedback from them and further refinement before a goal of submitting for Faculty Council approval.
September 8, 2020
Notice of Scholar Strike Canada: “Scholar Strike is a labour action/teach-in/social justice advocacy happening on September 9-10, 2020. September 9 & 10 were chosen as the dates of the Scholar Strike in Canada because, for many of us, the academic year begins on these dates. These days were also chosen because of their proximity to Labour Day.” A program of public digital teach-ins is available here.
August 31, 2020
This website was launched.
August 25, 2020
It was recommended by the FMUA current student Call to Action to create an admissions scholarship for Black and Indigenous students. For primarily privacy legislation reasons we cannot create an admissions scholarship, but can make a scholarship for first-year Black and Indigenous students.
The Black and Indigenous Musical Excellence Scholarship was created and can now be donated to here.