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BIPOC Committee

The Black, Biracial, and Indigenous (BBI) Task Force was formed in June 2020 in an effort to support the Black and Indigenous communities within the OUA.

The Task Force identified five main issues. Throughout the summer of 2020, the group ran various Town Hall meetings with student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. In October 2020, the Task Force presented their five main issues and recommendations at the OUA Annual General Meeting. They concluded their work the following month by making the same presentation to the Council of Ontario Univerisities (COU).

After the COU Presentation, the BBI Task Force transitioned into the BBI Advisory Committee, and later, the BIPOC Committee. The aim of the BBI Advisory Committee was to use the five main issues identified by the Task Force to create policy change.

In addition to the BBI Task Force initiatives, the OUA partnered with Dr. Janelle Joseph from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education’s Indigeneity, Diaspora, Equity, Anti-Racism in Sport (IDEAS) Lab. The aim of this partnership was to create and disseminate knowledge about a variety of issues identified as affecting the OUA’s Black and Indigenous communities.

To use the BIPOC Committee as a platform to make positive change across the province, through building strategies to increase diversity and representation across the OUA, and to drive policy change to remove systemic barriers regarding racism.

Name Title Organization
Corey Grant Co-Chair Carleton University
Christa Eniojukan Co-Chair York University
Jaqueline Beckford-Henriques Member University of Waterloo
Vince Longboat Member Brock University
Josh Sacobie Member Carleton University
Taijon Eccleston-Graham Student Member Nipissing University

The five Core Recommendations provided by the BBI Task Force to the OUA Board of Directors will be directly supported within the BBI Strategic Plan with specific intiatives and actions. Each recommendation will fall under separate Strategic Pillars:

Strategic Pillars

  • Policy Development
  • Opportunity Development
  • Training and Education
  • Financial Support
  • Mental Health Provisions

The OUA and BBI Committee further established four (4) additional Supporting Pillars as priorities;

Supporting Pillars

  • Data Collection & Research
  • Campus Outreach & Liaison
  • OUA Marketing & Promotion
  • External Funding and Corporate Support

Have questions? Want more information? Looking to provide feedback? Feel free to contact Shauna Bookal via email at shauna.bookal@oua.ca for more.