Students welcome Ryerson's Anti-Racism Task Force recommendations

TORONTO , Feb. 9 /CNW/ - Ontario students welcome the recommendations released yesterday in Ryerson University's Anti-Racism Task Force Report. Many of the experiences described in the report are similar to those reported by racialised students, faculty and staff across Ontario at more than a dozen hearings of the Task Force on Campus Racism, organised by the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. Recommendations derived from these province-wide hearings will be released in March of this year.

"Institutional responses to overt and covert racism on campuses must provide racialised students, faculty and staff with an environment that is safe to participate and engage in the campus community," said Liana Salvador , Vice-President Education of the Ryerson Students' Union. "Many of the concerns that students raised point to the need for structural changes within Ontario's colleges and universities."

"The Ryerson report on racism shows us that while experiences of racism can be very personal, the cause is often perpetuated by institutional practices that are difficult for individuals to challenge alone," said Hamid Osman, Ontario Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students.

Like work done at Ryerson, the Ontario-wide Task Force on Campus Racism organised by the Canadian Federation of Students provided a forum for racialised students, faculty and staff to speak out about racism on campuses across the province. Similar themes emerged in hearings held on many campuses, in which students, staff and faculty members identified concerns about how racialised people are excluded and marginalised within institutions of higher learning. The Federation's Task Force recommendations that will be released in March and are expected to raise awareness about racism and promote campus-specific and system-wide changes to address the issue.

"Addressing racism is not simply about reacting or responding to negative incidents that occurs on campus," said Krisna Saravanamuttu, Racialised Students' Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Our institutions must take a proactive approach to challenging racism by closely re-evaluating the curricula taught in classrooms, admissions criteria and hiring practices for professors to truly ensure diversity."

The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario unites more than 300,000 college and university students studying at public post-secondary institutions across the province.

For further information: Hamid Osman, Ontario Representative, Canadian Federation of Students: [phone] or [phone] (cell); Krisna Saravanamuttu, Racialised Student Representative, Canadian Federation of Students: [phone] (cell)