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The President’s Working Group on Anti-Black Racism has announced the membership of the University of Windsor Anti-Black Racism Task Force.
The task force consists of 20 members: 10 students, seven faculty, two staff members, and one community representative:
- social work student Jessica Bona-Mensah, Making It Awkward
- political science student Wesley Rose, Fusion
- communications student Kevinprecious Fawehinmi, African Students’ Association
- law student Kevin Limbombe, Black Law Students Association
- psychology student Rebecca Williams, Caribbean African Organization of Students
- business student Mia Riviere, University of Windsor Students’ Alliance
- math student Sathish Pichika, Graduate Students Society
- disability studies major Alaa Eissa, student at-large
- economics major Faith Enemaku, student at-large
- social work professor Camisha Sibblis, faculty at-large
- criminology professor Natalie Delia Deckard, faculty at-large
- social work professor Nicole Scott, faculty at-large
- women's and gender studies and English professor Richard Douglass-Chin, faculty at-large
- civil engineering professor Rajesh Seth, Windsor University Faculty Association
- associate dean of education Clinton Beckford, ex-officio academic administrator
- associate dean of human kinetics Kevin Milne, ex-officio academic administrator
- student recruitment officer Radha Patel, staff at-large
- assistant dean of law Katia Benoit, staff at-large
- alumna Kaitlyn Ellsworth (BA 2014), community representative
A member representing the Organization of Part-time University Students has yet to be named.
“Months of work went into organizing the task force,” says Jeremiah Bowers, the University's special projects co-ordinator on anti-Black racism initiatives. “While wariness of progress can be expected, this work has never been more crucial than it is now.
“I hope that the task force will fully embrace its mandate and engage in this work with passion and purpose. Pervasive and transformative change, as it relates to creating a safer and equitable experience for Black lives, is much needed at this University.”
Eissa served as co-ordinator of the 2019 African Diaspora Youth Conference and has been appointed to one of the student-at-large positions on the task force. She says she is looking forward to serving in her new role: “future change starts with the actions of today.”
Marium Tolson-Murtty, strategic planning officer for anti-Black racism initiatives, says the task force is the impetus for that change.
“We are encouraged by the dynamic of the Anti-Black Racism Task Force membership in terms of the varied work, education, and lived experiences,” she says. “The University should be proud of the campus community members serving in this capacity to conduct the necessary work of confronting, challenging, and eradicating anti-Black racism at the University of Windsor.”
The task force will convene in the weeks ahead, with a goal of submitting recommendations by Fall 2021. For more information on the task force membership and progress, visit the Anti-Black Racism Website.
Direct any questions to abr@uwindsor.ca.