[embed https://youtu.be/FP7youyHBL0]
Video: Alexandra Gillespie speaks about Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at UTM.
Principal's message
Since I started my position as Principal in July 2020, I have had the good fortune of listening to many members of the UTM community as they share their priorities for our institutional future. Building on values affirmed in our 2017 Academic Plan, the community’s suggestions have often cohered around five capacious goals, three of which include: to enable impactful discovery in student and faculty research; to develop inclusive spaces and sustainable operations; and to inspire creative collaboration for student success.
Rather than a sequence of separate actions, these goals comprise part of an interdependent whole, which I intend to signal with the order and language of their arrangement. Their respective verbs (“enable,” “develop,” “inspire”) form the acronym EDI to match the familiar abbreviation for one of UTM’s holistic commitments: equity, diversity and inclusion. The shared acronym indicates that equity, diversity and inclusion will permeate all aspects of UTM’s future, as envisioned by our new Strategic Framework: from research to student engagement, from teaching to infrastructural development.
UTM is also working on a new EDI plan to continue putting our inclusive ideals in practice. Emerging from collaborations among multiple people and teams across campus, including our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office, the plan represents both tremendous work already done and a larger pursuit of continual improvement. In proudly supporting our current efforts, I also welcome suggestions for new opportunities to sit with truth; to advance anti-racism; and to support equity-deserving groups. Our commitment to equity involves ongoing action, both now and in the future: the time, as Dr. King put it, is always ripe to do right.
To learn more (and access the virtual equity hub), visit the Additional EDI Resources page.