February is Black History Month.
Join Innis College in celebration and recognition.
Black History Month is a time to honour and celebrate contributions of Black Canadians and their communities, while recognizing and taking action against anti-Black racism.
At Innis College, we have taken the time to reflect on how best to serve our Black students and have subsequently embarked on a number of initiatives, guided in part by the recommendations of the College’s Black Student Experience Working Group. Those recommendations touch every aspect of college life, and I would like to take this opportunity to showcase some of the initiatives we have introduced.
First off, you will find a new webpage devoted to spotlighting the work of the Black Student Experience Working Group and its 24 calls to action. I will write to you later this month with updates on how the College is responding to these calls to action.
In the same spirit, we have launched the webpage “Inclusion Supports at Innis.” Here you can discover resources and opportunities for specific groups — including Black students — by applying identity-based filters. One such resource is a new category on fastforward that allows students to easily identify Black alumni from the College and read their profiles. And the recently initiated Black Alumni Mentorship Program matches Black alumni with upper-year Black students seeking career and life-planning advice.
Finally, the College has been planning programs and events in honour of Black History Month for quite some time. I encourage you to explore these offerings. Innis will continue its work to build a welcoming community for its Black students, as we strive to create a more equitable and just future.
Charlie Keil
Principal, Innis College