Renison’s Commitment to Racial Justice, Reconciliation & Decolonization

Recognizing that this important work requires a full commitment from all corners of the organization, Renison is adopting a grassroots approach.

Making purposeful use of the resources provided through the University of Waterloo including the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-racism (EDI-R); UW’s Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity and Equity (RAISE); UW’s Black Association for Student Expression (BASE); the Office of Indigenous Relations; and the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC); and providing intentional educational opportunities to all employees through Renison’s Human Resources department and Anti Harassment and Discrimination Committee, Renison will provide training and guidance to all of its existing committees and working groups on how to approach its work through a lens of racial justice, reconciliation, and decolonization. This training will be supplemented by Renison-wide training and information sessions. Everyone who has a role in the Renison enterprise will be provided with development opportunities; we will also provide various means, including anonymous, for employees to provide feedback and recommendations on how we are doing as an organization.

Renison will also introduce a Spokescouncil on Anti-Racism and Decolonization (ARD) with broad representation from across Renison to help advance this work and evaluate its success. The ARD Spokescouncil will convene on a quarterly basis (or special meeting if necessary):

• Provide guidance on budgetary decisions
• Provide guidance on key work projects
• Implement recommendations that have been submitted through various channels

ARD Spokescouncil Membership

Principles of our Work

• We will seek to develop practices and relationships within our separate working groups and in relation to one another that draw on principles of racial justice and decolonization. We will work to engage those relationships at a small-scale at Renison, but also on a larger scale among the affiliated colleges, the University of Waterloo, the KW Community and beyond,
• We will meet periodically to assess the framework of our work, consider adaptations, and respond to the changing social and cultural environment on campus and beyond.
• Recognizing that transformative change does not happen in a linear fashion, we will engage in small-scale and large-scale projects in collaboration with other groups/students/faculty/staff/community when opportunity and capacity allows. We will be open to new approaches and have a focus on both material actions/goals and healthy relationships.
• We will work toward addressing our failures, missed opportunities, and set-backs in a collaborative, accountable, and responsive way.
• We will work collaboratively towards transformative change and will connect and build relationships across campus and the wider KW community to do our work.
• We will aim to inspire: collaboration; new projects outside of our control; and a renewed culture at Renison and at UW led by principles of racial justice and a commitment to the decolonization of post-secondary education and institutions.