Posted on March 10: Building a more inclusive community

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BY Kelly Curwin

March 10, 2003

Issues of diversity, inclusion and equity will gain a higher profile at McMaster with the recent establishment of a presidential advisory committee.

University President Peter George created the President's Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community as part of his and McMaster's commitment to a community that celebrates, fosters and respects diversity.

“The University fosters an environment of diversity and inclusivity. It is part of our culture and is something we should all celebrate,” says George. “One of our principal purposes as a University is to make possible the expression of a wide range of views, cultures and lifestyles. It is my hope that this committee will help to strengthen our commitment to these issues and will assist us in building a stronger, more inclusive community for all.”

The committee will act as an advisory body to the President on a variety of issues, including:

  • recommending strategies to identify and eliminate practices which may have the effect of being discriminatory;
  • providing a forum for the advancement of issues relevant to diversity, inclusion and equity; and
  • facilitating communication and co-ordination on campus among those groups and bodies that are interested in advancing the principles of diversity.

The committee will be developing a statement embodying McMaster's commitment to diversity.

The committee is co-chaired by University provost Ken Norrie and McMaster Students Union president Evan Mackintosh, and consists of representatives from numerous campus groups and organizations, including: the Senate Committee on Human Rights, the MSU Committee on Human Rights, the Ombuds Office, the Sexual Harassment and
Anti-Discrimination Office, the faculty, staff, graduate students, and part-time students associations, Women's Studies, The Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered Centre, the Anti-Violence Network, Peace Studies, and many others.

“This committee is very important to the University and I'm pleased to be co-chairing it with the MSU President. McMaster already has a number of initiatives in place which encourage and foster diversity. In bringing these groups together we have an opportunity collectively to build on these achievements,” says provost Ken Norrie.

Committee member Jane Aronson, School of Social Work, is delighted the committee has been launched. “It provides a clear institutional location for addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. To date, such issues have been taken up in rather scattered ways: by a few small university offices (SHADO, Ombuds), by creative but inevitably fragile voluntary initiatives (the Anti-Violence Network, equity-related student organizations), and by academic programs implicitly concerned with the diversification of knowledge (indigenous studies, women's studies, peace studies).”

Aronson, who formerly chaired the University Committee Against Homophobia and Heterosexism and is currently chair of a search committee for a new sexual harassment and anti-discrimination officer, says the committee has the potential to move forward McMaster's commitment to equity and inclusion “from a rather minimalist, problem-oriented approach to one that actively embraces diversity and assumes it as an integral and welcome dimension of the teaching, learning and work in which we are all engaged.”

Jim Rice, a member of the Senate Committee on Human Rights, said he welcomed the opportunity to serve the University in a more active role. He described his role as a member of the Senate committee as passive: the committee analyses issues and sets and reviews policies for others to act upon rather than taking action itself. “If we're here to build our community  to spend, direct and move forward on the inclusion agenda — then that's a fabulous reason to be here and I'm looking forward to taking on a more active role.”