HAMILTON, Ont. - McMaster University's Department of Athletics & Recreation announced today that it will be hosting a day-long symposium focused on anti-racism in athletics and recreation in post-secondary institutions, taking place Monday, May 2nd, 2022.

The symposium, titled 'Future Directions in Anti-Racism: Spotlight on University Athletics & Recreation', has been developed to assemble and engage student-athletes, coaches, support staff, and administrators from across Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and U Sports institutions, for discussions about anti-racism in the sector.

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Beginning at 9 am, the day will include a keynote speaker, interactive panel discussions, four workshops focused on sharing emerging and established anti-racism initiatives and best practices in the areas of recruitment, education, support, and accountability measures, and networking opportunities, before concluding at 4:30 pm.

"Coming out of the Black Student Athlete Experience review" says Keenan Jeppesen, Associate Director, High Performance, "we realized that as a department we gathered a ton of valuable insights and learnings that could only benefit our peer institutions. The Anti-Racism Symposium was developed to create a space for discussion and sharing."

Jeppesen says that the symposium was developed with the goal of creating a forum that can help to further the conversation of anti-racism at all levels of competitive sport in Canada. 

"We truly hope that sharing the uncomfortable but important work our department has done over the past year empowers our peers to do the same. We hope to foster dialogue between student-athletes and their coaches and administrators that will lead to meaningful change."

Shawn Burt, Director of Athletics & Recreation, acknowledges that progress has been made at McMaster, but insists there is more work to be done.
 
"The steps we are actively pursuing as a community are not only to become better informed, but to better empower all of our people to enact real change both within our own programs and across the conference," says Burt.

With support from the Black Student-Athlete Association (BSAC) and McMaster University's Equity and Inclusion Office, Indigenous Student Services and Student Affairs programming for Future Directions in Anti-Racism has been developed to discuss equity, diversity and inclusion work being done at McMaster and elsewhere, and to exchange approaches with peers across the province to improve the overall racialized student-athlete and staff experience.

"The Anti-Racism symposium will act as an important mechanism to encourage ongoing discussions around supporting equitable and inclusive environments for student-athletes and staff" says Sheereen Harris, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Lead for the Department of Athletics & Recreation. 

"I hope this symposium serves as an opportunity for shared learning and a reminder that continued efforts are needed to advance equity, diversity, and anti-racism in athletics and recreation."

Workshops will be co-facilitated by institutional leads from peer universities across two sessions that will run concurrently, covering the following topics:

• Education - Development and implementation of ongoing education for coaches, staff, administrators, and students with a focus on anti-racism and anti-bias training. 
• Recruitment - Policies and procedures encouraging the recruitment of diverse student-athletes and staff.  
• Support - Ways that mental health, financial awards, and equity-devoted staff members can support racialized student and staff needs. 
• Accountability - Processes ensuring accountability for anti-racism explicitly address acts of racism and their prevention.

Marissa Dillon, a founding member of the Black Student-Athlete Council and a fourth-year student-athlete on the women's rugby team, believes that events like the Anti-Racism symposium will help to bridge the gap between BIPOC student-athletes, support-staff, administration, and coaches, while providing a space for learning and shared dialogue on anti-racism and institutional initiatives.

"The symposium is an opportunity for BIPOC student-athlete voices and experiences to be at the forefront of the conversation," says Dillon. "It will offer institutions a chance to gain a deeper understanding, through each of the workshop topics, on how they can break down and alter existing practices to better support and improve the BIPOC student-athlete experience."

"It's important to note that there is no finish line in anti-racism work" added Burt. "Our collective effort to implement the anti-racism action plan is ongoing and we look forward to building on this training through continuous dialogue and learning opportunities such as the Anti-Racism Symposium. I would like to commend our entire staff and partners across campus who have played a critical role in ensuring sustainable practices are implemented for long term, positive impact. None of this would be possible without their passion and hard work."

Attendance is limited to OUA members. Tickets for the event are available for $75, and are on sale now at mcmaster.universitytickets.com. Capacity is limited to 150 attendees, with 50 tickets being offered free of charge to OUA and McMaster Marauder student-athletes. Breakfast, refreshments, lunch, snacks and on-campus parking will be covered with admission. Tickets are expected to sell out fast, and all attendees must pre-register prior to April 28th.

Anyone requiring accommodations for the Anti-Racism Symposium should contact arequity@mcmaster.ca.
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