Original article written and published by the Daily Bulletin
In a memo circulated to University employees last Friday, President Vivek Goel and Vice-President, Academic & Provost James Rush announced that they have acted on recommendations from the Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion office review team to create two new organizational units led by Associate Vice-Presidents that will report to the Vice-President, Academic & Provost. These units replace two of the functions of the former Office of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion. Both appointments are effective immediately.
The new Office of Indigenous Relations will be led by Jean Becker, who will take on the new title of Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Relations.
Jean Becker joined the University of Waterloo in January 2020 in the newly-created Senior Director, Indigenous Initiatives position, providing strategic leadership to articulate a University of Waterloo-specific response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, and identifying systemic and systematic changes that move beyond the Calls to Action by creating a long-term vision for the University. She took on the role of interim associate vice-president of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion in August 2020.
Becker, known for her work locally, provincially, and nationally, was Senior Advisor for Indigenous Initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University prior to her appointment at Waterloo. Becker is Inuk and a member of the Nunatsiavut Territory of Labrador, and has a Master’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Guelph.
“I am delighted that the university has demonstrated the strength of the commitment to de-colonization, Indigenization, equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism with this action,” says Jean Becker. “I am confident that this is just the beginning of creating a more just, inclusive institution.”
The new Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism will be led by Dr. Christopher Taylor in the new role of Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism.
Dr. Christopher Taylor is a Black equity strategist, anti-racism advisor, and assistant professor in the Department of History and the Arts First program. His previous administrative roles at the University of Waterloo include serving as the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisor for the University’s Equity Office, and acting as the Faculty of Arts’ Black Equity Strategist & Anti-Racism Advisor. He is a facilitator with the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit and an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDI-R) consultant.
His book, Flying Fish in the Great White North: The Autonomous Migration of Black Barbadians, is available from Fernwood Publishing. Taylor is also the author of the e-learning module Confronting Anti-Black Racism, based on his ARTS 130 course.
Taylor also worked in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and began his career as a Policy Coordinator Intern in the Deputy Minister's Office at the Ministry of Labour. He was the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator in the Ministry of the Attorney General's Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility Office; a Senior Policy Advisor at Ontario's Anti-Racism Directorate; and Manager of Social Justice & Change Cluster at the Ontario Correctional Services College.
“I am pleased and grateful for the support from the UWaterloo community on this appointment as the new AVP, EDI-R,” says Dr. Taylor. “In this role, I will lead with empathy, grace, and courage as an innovative changemaker. I will do this by embodying, and actively demonstrating, the principles of an Inclusive Leader: introspection, intention, and implementation."
“I am thankful and inspired by Jean’s and Christopher’s willingness to take on these important roles at this important time,” says James W.E. Rush, vice-president, academic & provost. “I very much look forward to working with them as the University builds on our achievements by fulsomely responding to the recommendations of this review, and realigning our structures, resources and mandates to ensure that the work of Indigenous reconciliation, anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion is implementation and impact focussed and clearly serves the needs of our students, faculty, staff and community.”