USask president on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

As we reflect on the progress that we have made as a campus community, and acknowledge the important work that still lies ahead, we reaffirm our commitment to being the most welcoming and supportive place that we can be for all students, staff, faculty, and alumni. We are creating the change that we want to see for our university, in our community, and throughout society. 

As we continue to walk this journey together, our path forward is marked by the University of Saskatchewan’s newly launched website that shares the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework that has been endorsed by all three USask governing bodies. The EDI Framework defines our vision for a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive university that will be advanced through our strategies and goals. Turning our vision into a reality will require us to be concrete and intentional about what we need to do and how we need to do it.  

Our ambition is to be a university for everyone, one where we all belong and can flourish. To realize this ambition, we will concentrate our efforts on advancing six strategic priorities. Each strategic priority will be advanced by goals that will guide our efforts to embed and reflect EDI across our university.   

Student Experience: Enrich the student experience by increasing the diversity of our student body, appreciating this diversity, and creating environments that foster belonging for all students. 

Teaching and Learning: Embed EDI concepts into our teaching and learning programming, services and activities and evolve our learning environments to be inclusive, accessible and supportive. 

Research, Scholarly and Artistic Work: Enhance our research excellence by incorporating EDI concepts into research programs, activities and environments and encouraging those with diverse perspectives, worldviews and contributions. 

Employee Experience: Evolve our working environment and workplace culture by incorporating EDI concepts into human resources and talent management processes, decisions and activities. 

Systems: Be intentional and proactive in challenging the status quo and changing our structures, systems, policies, procedures, and processes to include EDI concepts. 

Physical Space: Create inclusive, supportive, accessible and safe spaces where everyone has the opportunity to participate meaningfully and experience a sense of belonging. 

We all have a personal responsibility to support, encourage, and ensure a more equitable campus culture, and we all have a role to play to confront racial discrimination at every opportunity to build a more just society. We must always be prepared to put words into action, reflected in our daily decisions and interactions with one another, as we live the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and embrace manācihitowin to create and shape the university community that we want to be. 

On this International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, let us all re-commit to doing our part to confront racial discrimination at every opportunity, to be champions of equity, diversity and inclusion, and to build a better campus community and society that is safe and supportive for all. 

Sincerely,

Peter Stoicheff
President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Saskatchewan