By Emma Sandri
Here’s some news you need to know!
Climate Change Strike
Students participating in the Global Climate Strike on Sept. 27 at Queen’s Park will need to coordinate their absence with their instructors, or they could be penalized.
Ryerson’s provost and vice-president, academic Michael Benarroch said the university supports the Climate Day of Action events taking place, but that the university will remain open on the day of the strike. “Classes, labs, assignments, and tests [will be] moving forward as planned,” he said in a statement on Ryerson’s website.
“We are encouraging people to participate, but we cannot tell them ‘just miss your class,’” said Ryerson president Mohamed Lachemi.
Anti-Black Racism Climate Review (ABRCR) report
As The Eyeopener previously reported, Ryerson first began holding consultations for the first ABRCR in March. In an interview on Sept. 23, Lachemi said that the university administration is awaiting a report based on the consultations.
First proposed by the Black Liberation Collective in their 2016 demands to the university, these consultations were led by the Office of the Vice-President Equity and Community Inclusion.
According to Lachemi, Black faculty, staff and students were interviewed by consultant Rinaldo Walcott—an international expert on Black cultural studies—either in focus groups or as individuals. Walcott is working on a report for Ryerson, who will review it “and see what is next,” said Lachemi.
Get out. Hide. Fight.
Starting in October, Ryerson will be offering training sessions “aimed at teaching [students, faculty and staff] what to do in case they face an active attacker” on campus, according to the university’s website.
Lachemi says “Get Out. Hide. Fight.” is a campaign which comes with a package of training resources, materials and workshops.
“You know that the situation can happen anywhere, [and] we think the probability of this happening on our campus is very low—but that doesn’t mean we have to ignore the possibility,” said Lachemi.
Ryerson’s Community Safety and Security’s “Active Attacker” webpage has a nine-minute training video which features a fictional scenario of a shooter on-campus.
“A weapon is assembled. An instructor teaches a class, the unthinkable happens. A man wearing dark clothing stalks an empty corridor, aiming an assault rifle,” says the narrator of the video.
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