Equity Diversity, Inclusion and Indigeneity Information Session – Questions Submitted in Advance

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The following questions were submitted in advance of the Information Session on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Indigeneity (Sept 16, 2020). They have been edited to remove duplicate questions, references to identifiable individuals, and questions unrelated to the topic. They are otherwise displayed as they were submitted, in no particular order.

Please visit the EDI Action Plan and Indigeneity web pages for more information, which will be updated to address the questions below over the coming weeks.

Questions

1. Will visible minorities be forced to take anti-racism training?
2. What will you ACTUALLY do to make the Laurier campus a safer space for BIPOC individuals?
3. How much money is being put toward EDII initiatives? Without money, little can change. How much power will the EDII committees be given? Without power, little can change.
4. Will the people who hold the power at Laurier be attending all the meetings and be active participants and listeners in developing recommendations and making changes?
5. It seems that rather than censorship of content, insistence on respectful and interested engagement with the questions and questioners are more helpful in the long run. How do we encourage this?
6. How will the administration deal with faculty who purposely try to undermine this plan and who spread overtly racist views on social media? Any response to the concerns of wluchangeisdue?
7. What ways will the curriculums of mandatory courses be enhanced to include subjects such as, but not limited to, colonialism, slavery, racism and human rights? How do you plan to enforce changes?
8. What do the words equity and equality mean to Laurier?
9. Will this Zoom information session be recorded and posted online after the event for those who cannot participate at the time of the event?
10. There is ample research, specifically by Black scholars, that discredits claims of systemic racism (e.g. T.Sowell, R.Fryer, W.Williams, W. Reilly, G.Loury), yet WLU admin ignores this evidence. Why?
11. I reached out to two LGBTQ+ organizations, the Rainbow Centre and Out in Business club - both of which are inactive. Why are these organizations inactive and how can I help lead these organizations.
12. Should WLU be officially neutral on socio-political positions; should it fairly & equally promote scholarship that discredits claims of systemic racism (e.g. T.Sowell, R.Fryer, W.Williams, W. Reilly)?
13. Do you support abolishing the campus police? If so, who would replace their services? This is especially relevant in Brantford, where students report feeling unsafe in areas of the downtown.
14. How will the senior admin respond to the coalition of racialized students spearheading the initiative @wluchangeisdue that is using social media to call out racism and Islamophobia on our campus?
15. The EDI AP does not have an intersectional approach. This cannot be simply "added on." Extremely short sighted and completely out of step with the AR/AO field. So disappointing and marginalizing.
16. Why does the administration refuse to acknowledge #wluchangeisdue when they have provided extensive proof of racism on campus?
17. Why would you host a town hall on inclusion and then make registration limited?
18. Your policy on academic freedom specifically mentions not covering hate speech... how do you allow hate speech on campus from profs in the name of academic freedom despite claiming you don’t?
19. Will we be ensuring that an Indigenous Services Librarian position is created to support the Indigenous Faculty members, Indigenous students, and Indigenous research happening at Laurier?
20. Will training be mandated for existing staff or will training only be provided to new staff being onboarded?
21. Research shows that anti-racism in the workplace is not effective (see Dobbin). Is there any evidence that forcing faculty/staff to take this training is going to change "hearts and minds".
22. How can you claim to be committed to equity and diversity when you allow several professors to spout racist and bigoted rhetoric on social media and in class?
23. Will there be penalties for faculty who refuse to take anti-racist training? Some faculty strongly believe that it is a 'grift' that makes millionaires out of the Robin Diangelo's of the world
24. What non-traditional recruiting tools or platforms are used in our hiring processes?
25. Will staff receive mandatory diversity and inclusivity training? They should complete a mandatory certificate in order to teach in order to make classrooms safer spaces.
26. You can’t say you support ending systemic racism on campus and then support and pay racist professors.
27. What's our starting point and end goal? How many diverse Laurier leaders (mgmt, senior admin) do we have & what change would we like to see in 5 years? Will we evaluate progress by # of diverse staff?
28. Will admin allow the new equity procedures guiding future faculty hiring to include provisions allowing for reduced quotas on, exclusion of, or "reverse discrimination" against, white candidates?
29. Types of anti-racist training are proposed. Peer-reviewed research shows it doesn’t make people less racist but can produce negative outcomes. Why is WLU promoting an empirically-flawed practice? Will new hires, & others, be able to opt out?
30. Career progression for visible minorities is challenging at Laurier due to the toxic environment. Any plans to fix this by promoting staff members from the minority community?
31. Given that, as an institution, we support a diverse array of students - Are there plans to implement mandatory EDI training (Indigenous, CSEDI, Laurier Intercultural Cert) for all staff & faculty?
32. How do you allow profs to negatively speak about your university & your EDI policies on twitter when at any other job, disparaging your place of employment publicly would be grounds for dismissal?
33. How do you justify professors attacking students for their opinion concerning professor’s racism?
34. How do you ensure professors don’t target students for liberal opinions, particularly in terms of marking?
35. How do you plan to educate and support staff in developing an EDI lens while they are in the creation process of programs, initiatives, and/or training? How are you ensuring accountability?
36. How should BIPOC staff and faculty go about creating spaces for BIPOC Laurier members? What would you do to support BIPOC faculty, staff, and student caucuses?
37. Is there an initiative to track the salary gap for BIPOC employees (faculty and staff) both for past and new hires? Is there an initiative to address and close recognized gaps?
38. What are the expectations of faculty and staff regarding equity, diversity and inclusion? What support/training will be provided to faculty and staff in this area? How will they be held accountable?
39. What is the impact on research, teaching and discourse when the administration essentially declares that there’s only one way for a member of this university to think about an issue (e.g., racism).
40. What non-traditional recruiting tools or platforms are used in our hiring processes?
41. What processes are in place to showcase the EDI work that is being done in individual departments? Will there be opportunities for collaboration and communication among units?
42. Why is the free speech policy only designed to benefit professors? I understand that they make the institution money, but prejudice should not be allowed to stand for the sake of financial gain.
43. Why was a white led consulting team of former cops contracted to do EDI training for campus police at Laurier?
44. Will staff receive mandatory diversity and inclusivity training? They should complete a mandatory certificate in order to teach in order to make classrooms safer spaces.
45. We are currently not tracking EDI self-identification for students except for Indigeneity. Will tracking that information on our students become a priority to help inform where we are, where we go?
46. How can you ensure that students are appropriately sanctioned for racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic behaviour when no specific sanctions or even definitions are listed in the NACOC?
47. How are you combating ableism on campus? There are several profs who will not allow students to use laptops in class even if they have an accommodation on file?
48. How can you guarantee that racist profs won’t low mark students because of any protected class?
49. I have been a business student at Laurier for 4 years and have NEVER had a professor or TA that was BIPOC. WHY?! It is so isolating being of colour at Laurier. NOT the inclusivity promised.
50. Meaningful initiatives to include the voices of students who are excluded because of class based inequality do not appear to exist in the Action Plan. Why? And how can this omission be rectified?
51. What are the many student-focused initiatives for indigenous students?
52. What steps is Laurier taking while working with the special constable, to promote equity and, help students and faculty of colour feel safer when working with police?
53. What steps is the university going to take to ensure the safety of Palestinian students on campus? There have been a number of incidents the past years on campus where students have been harassed.
54. Why are free speech policies not applied fairly between students and profs? If a student used a slur in class they would be punished (rightfully) why are profs not punished in the same way?
55. Aside from "Being Raced" report, what measurable evidence shows that Laurier is a systemically racist institution (pay gap, tenure decisions, hiring, merit awards, teaching schedule, committee work).
56. When the new WLU definition of racism & related policies are adopted, how will admin ensure they DO NOT stifle or prohibit free enquiry & expression on campus of dissenting/conservative voices?
57. Given that there are multiple views on racism in addition to critical theory, will opportunity and resources be provided to ensure that all sides of the conversation are represented?
58. How can you say you’re committed to equality when you require Respondus and raised tuition? Both are major class barriers. Remember that is an equity issue as well
59. I was wondering how I can help advocate equity, diversity, inclusion, and education regarding Indigenous peoples. Is there any way I can volunteer to help send this important message. Thanks.
60. If Indigenization is part of the new strategic plan, how is this being implemented on the ground-level and what is expected of faculty and staff to ensure its success on campus?
61. What is the EDI commitment to matters of disability and matters of minorities sexual identity groups?
62. Why are equity seeking groups like the disabled, queer, trans, religious minorities etc not included in an EDI Action Plan?
63. Why is the EDI Action Plan not based on an intersectional approach? This is a limiting and faulty framework to build upon and out of step with longstanding theory and praxis in the AO field.
64. Why were diverse EDI stakeholders not consulted in the development of the Action Plan?
65. Will there be a survey of the University community (with unbiased sampling and a rigorous definition of racism) to measure the extent and nature of racism before the action plan is implemented?
66. Your EDI policy and discussions mostly cover racism, which is important, but what are you doing to combat homophobia, transphobia, and sexism on campus, as this is often more subtle but equally harmful?