One year ago today, following the announcement of George Brown College’s (GBC) new anti-racism strategy, the Student Association of George Brown College (SAGBC) sent an open letter to the administration, calling on the college to take more meaningful action in its anti-racism efforts. Outlined in it were eight key demands of support for students vulnerable…
On April 21, 2021, OPSEU Locals 556 and 557, the unions representing George Brown College’s (GBC) faculty and support staff, sent a letter to the GBC board of governors forcefully criticizing the college’s anti-racism efforts. “We are outlining these concerns because we are proud to be a part of a college that has been a…
In 2018, Loni Frank, a faculty member at the Child and Youth Care program, was notified that her classroom would be moving. As she stood outside the new classroom with her books, pulley cart, and a handful of her students, she asked a security personnel to let her in. They said no as she did…
Since being named George Brown College’s director of anti-racism, equity, and human rights services, Jennifer Grant has spent the last four weeks transitioning part-time into her new position. “I think the work that needs to be done when we’re thinking about anti-racism is always transformational work. We’re always looking at this journey towards a reimagined…
Over 300 people were in attendance for a conversation with Desmond Cole on Wednesday hosted by the Black Student Success Network. In it, Cole addressed pressing issues such as anti-Black racism, campus security, and the current state of policing. Desmond Cole is an author, activist, and journalist who released his first book The Skin We’re…
On Thursday, February 25, Toronto-based abolitionist, storyteller and Black Lives Matter organizer Ravyn Wngz will be leading a talk titled Black History is in the Now. The talk is hosted by George Brown College’s (GBC) Office of Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights Services and will start at 12:00 p.m. “I think we’re in a time…
By Candice Zhang On October 21, 2020, Nigela and Wayne Purboo launched the Onyx Initiative, a non-profit organization that aims to host mentorship and training programs to prepare Black students for employment opportunities in their respective fields. The organization is a response to the impacts of anti-Black racism and socioeconomic inequalities. “We are mainly focused…
By Maud Weaver Conversations and actions around anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism continue as post-secondary students strike this week with faculty and staff to commemorate Orange Shirt Day and highlight how post-secondary institutions are complicit in and perpetuate racism. Kien Azinwi, president of the York Federation of Students and an organizer for All Out September 30…
By Maud Weaver On September 25, George Brown College announced it hired its first Director of Indigenous Initiatives to follow through with its anti-racism strategy and to implement the Truth and Reconciliations Calls to Action. Jennifer Campeau is Anishinaabe from Yellowquill First Nation, with kinship ties to the Eastern Region III Metis Nation of Saskatchewan. She says…
By Maud Weaver On July 23, 2020 the Student Association of George Brown College (SAGBC) released an open letter addressed to President Anne Sado and several other members of the college’s senior leadership which outlined eight demands for eliminating racism at George Brown College (GBC). Over a month later, the SAGBC is still wondering what…
