All members of the Faculty of Science—including our Black, Indigenous, and other racialized and marginalized members—stand together as we process the events of the past days and weeks and put this into context with our history. Systemic racism exists, and because of this, there have been and continue to be structures in place, which act as barriers to safe and accessible opportunities for students, staff, and faculty members in these groups. These structures have had particular consequences in science. We need to talk about this and continue to work towards understanding, identifying, and breaking down these barriers so that we can do better. The Faculty of Science will not tolerate racism.
To our Black and Indigenous Faculty of Science community members: I acknowledge that you have experiences that only you are privy to and that this is a very difficult time. I am here for you and want you to know that our entire community is enriched by your contributions to our Faculty of Science and we all benefit from our diverse and culturally rich community. We are working to build a climate that promotes equity and equal representation that includes open and regular communication. We also have been examining all of our policies and are working towards intersectionality within our equity, diversity, and inclusivity framework. I look forward to discussing our policy changes with all of you. We are also working with the University of Alberta through its EDI plan on other policies and institutional supports such as the Office of Safe Disclosure & Human Rights.
As Dean of the University of Alberta’s largest undergraduate faculty, I am committed to listening to better understand the diverse perspectives of our community and to support the changes that are needed now to ensure equity, inclusion, and representation. I invite our students, our faculty, and our staff to share experiences and ideas at dean.science@ualberta.ca, This will help prioritize the actions we need to take in our Science community in advance of the arrival of our new Associate Dean of Engagement and EDI, Tara McGee, who starts her new role on July 1. There is much work to be done to advance racial equity and justice in the Faculty of Science, at the University of Alberta, and in our society.
Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell, Dean
University of Alberta Faculty of Science