ÎüʪÊÓƵ

Have you seen the Anti-Racism Reminder posters popping up on bulletin boards across OC campuses recently? As B.C. marks Anti-Racism Awareness Week starting on May 27 to June 2, it’s a good time to reflect on what all of us at ÎüʪÊÓƵ are doing to engage with anti-racism in our classrooms, campuses, and communities – and to think about what more we can do.

ÎüʪÊÓƵ's mission to transform lives and communities and our commitment to equitable and inclusive access to education, make it crucial for each of us to understand and work to counter inequalities, barriers, and disparities rooted in racialization. That requires action from leadership, students, faculty/instructors, support, and administration staff working collaboratively at all levels, from top-down to bottom-up. Our values align with that of , and we look forward to the BC anti-racism legislation that is expected to be announced later in 2024.

"We are walking in this journey together to share teaching and learning. Anti-racism is one part of how we work towards reconciliation. It is about building awareness and honouring each other’s stories and voices to stop doing harm to each other at all levels. We are a community-based college; we need to embrace all differences by coming together as one, respecting each other's space, and meeting each other where we are at in one's journey."

Rhea Dupuis, Director of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

We recognize that racialization intersects with various aspects of life, contributing to complex systems of inequality. While we need to identify how these manifest as institutional and structural barriers, we also need to be aware of how they present in interpersonal contexts as implicit biases, microaggressions, and other relational harms. In all contexts, the necessary processes of learning (and for many of us, unlearning!) takes time and intention – but the rewards are substantial, both personally and institutionally.

Here are some of the ways you can get involved in anti-racism learning this month and in the year ahead:

• May 30 - The upcoming , an all-ages event featuring intercultural live performances by OC students and community youths at Black Box Theatre, Kelowna.
• - e.g. Four Seasons of Reconciliation
• Connections - Some sessions offered include Bystander, Universal Design for Learning, Trauma-Informed Practice, and more!
• – all OC staff have access to free resources
• Anti-discrimination reporting portal provided by
• Keep your eyes out for upcoming community events we will share on the next OC This Week

As a part of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice (EDISJ) work at ÎüʪÊÓƵ, there is a cross-campus anti-racism working group that identifies and advances priority actions. Consultations on the new, comprehensive EDISJ strategy are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024. To find out more and get involved in OC’s anti-racism and EDISJ work, get in touch at edisj@okanagan.bc.ca .