Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and Beth Ali, executive director of athletics & physical activity programs at the University of Toronto, penned a letter to the community reflecting on the endemic racism we are witnessing in the world, as well as in our midst.
These past weeks have been a horrible reminder of endemic anti-Black racism. And, last week was a stark alarm bell for us personally, one that has shaken our confidence in the effectiveness of the many initiatives of the Faculty we lead in embedding equity, diversity and inclusion awareness within its curriculum and within the framework of sport and recreation opportunities for the U of T community.
We teach and preach that sport and recreation are not immune to racism. Our students learn that a history of white privilege permeates our society and restricts the benefits and advantages that could otherwise accrue from equitable access to sport and recreation. And, now, we have witnessed just how far we are from “walking the talk” within our own Faculty.
A group of current and former Varsity Blues students, all identifying as Black or People of Colour, asked to meet with us to share their lived experience as student athletes at the University of Toronto. For over an hour, we heard of individual experiences of explicit and implicit anti-Black discrimination that they witnessed and experienced. Throughout, we both felt a growing, deep sense of sadness, regret and anger. We were left with a visceral sinking feeling when it became clear that these students felt that there was no one to turn to within the Varsity Blues program who could identify with their experiences and provide guidance and support. We feel that our own personal lack of awareness about their experiences has been complicit in the failure to provide such a fundamental support.
KPE and Varsity Blues students, staff and faculty have conceived and led many initiatives with a diverse group of stakeholders that resulted in progress with some inequitable practices and policies. However, it has become clear that the broad brush of initiatives and programs designed to advance equity, diversity and inclusion has not been enough. We now need to apply focused energy to anti-BIPOC racism and to start to do so by continuing to listen and learn, and developing actions to reduce the likelihood of future students having experiences that are diametrically opposed to the desired essence of the student and the student athlete experience.
We will re-double our efforts starting immediately by continuing to learn from those past and current student athletes who have reached out to us with passion, sensitivity and very constructive recommendations. And, through a coordinated focus by the Faculty leadership we will re-open the KPE Task Force on Race and Indigeneity report and the recent KPE Equity report on the implementation of the Task Force’s recommendations, with a view to accelerating them.
Ira Jacobs,
Dean
Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education
Beth Ali,
Executive Director
Athletics & Physical Activity Programs