Courageous Conversations: A Spotlight on Individual Experiences, held by the College of Agriculture and Bioresources on March 5th, aims to hear from their students.

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Framework for Action is one of the supporting plans of the University of Saskatchewan’s Plan 2025. As outlined in the document, the university president, Peter Stoicheff, states, “Our challenge, to be met in this plan, is to make this whole greater than the sum of its parts. When we are successful at doing so, students around the globe will see the university in particular as a place to develop the knowledge and skills that they need to thrive.”

As part of USask’s aspiration to be “the University the World Needs”, the EDI Strategy framework aims to “activate the principles that are core to our University Plan.” It incorporates the voices, experiences, and expectations of many diverse groups, drawing from an advisory committee representing individuals across the gender spectrum, people with differing abilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Indigenous Peoples, individuals who identify as persons of color, and individuals with diverse spiritual beliefs.

Inspired by this framework, the College of Agriculture and Bioresources is on a mission to promote and advance a culture of EDI within the college, fostering an understanding of the principles of EDI. The EDI committee, comprised of volunteers from diverse backgrounds, works towards achieving this goal through its ongoing projects and discussions.

The committee has been in place for about two years and is coordinated by Edgar Martinez. It includes faculty members, staff, and students, including Ana Pontes de Azevedo, a Master of Science candidate from the Department of Plant Sciences.

“ [EDI] is there constantly, and you think about it at least every single day. It definitely has an impact on all of our lives, and it gets overlooked really easily,” she said.

Reflecting on how she joined the committee, Azevedo mentioned, “As a student, we don’t have many roles that we can take, administrative roles [where] we share our opinions. And so I knew that this was my chance.”  Having previously worked as a resident assistant, and hosted EDI-related events, joining the committee felt like a natural next step for Azevedo. 

“I chose my supervisor, partially because I knew that EDI was really important for her, and she employed a lot of women,” she said, explaining how EDI considerations influence her decision-making. 

Azevedo also shared how the committee developed the idea for their upcoming event, “Courageous Conversations: A Spotlight on Individual Experiences”, designed to foster “open, honest, and thought-provoking dialogue around the personal experiences of individuals navigating life, highlighting the challenges and triumphs in the pursuit of greater equity and inclusion.”

“We saw that U of Calgary did a great EDI week event. And when we saw that, we [thought] ‘that’s great’, maybe we could do some events for EDI week here at AgBio” Azevedo said. 

She received strong support from Khloe Baker, the undergraduate student representative of the committee. “She was also supportive of the fact that we need more representation, [asking questions such as] who gives the EDI talks, and who has that space. At least to give that opportunity to people who don’t have a platform, but still struggle with EDI in several aspects of their lives.”

Azevedo explained that EDI issues students face manifest in different ways. “It might be someone that has chronic knee pain, and they have to come in every day because their class is not available on Zoom. It might be someone like me because I suffer from endometriosis, so once a month I can’t leave my bed.”

According to her, the committee wants to use the event as an opportunity to know, “How can the university or the college make it better for you?”, mentioning how it isn’t fair that some students go through daily struggles, simply because there’s nothing else they can do. “It’s really emotional for me, I guess, because you never know what’s going on, right?”

The committee launched a survey in the Winter 2024 term, open to all students, staff, and faculty in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources The goal of this survey was to help the committee identify priorities for the coming year. One of the key takeaways was a general lack of awareness about EDI. 

When asked about how the college plans to implement insights from events like “Courageous Conversations”, Azevedo emphasized that the committee is focused on listening: “We’re setting up a gender-inclusive bathroom in the college, and that was also a result of the survey. If someone comes up with a great idea during the panel, then it might be put into place, and become a policy for next year.”

“I just want to make [sure students] have an opening so we can take that into account. Also to show people that EDI is more than what they think it is. Then hopefully, inspire other colleges to do the same. I think that it should be something that is implemented every year in every college because it’s just too important not to be.”

The EDI committee put out a call for panellists in February, ahead of the event scheduled this month. “We put out a call for anyone, that being staff or students, or anyone in the College of Ag,” she stated.

“I think that the event is about the panellists. In the end, it’s going to come down to their personal stories and personal opinions,” she added, noting that there were no specific criteria for selection, just a willingness to share their individual experiences.

The event title, “Courageous Conversations”, reflects its purpose: fostering meaningful dialogue and advocating for issues involving EDI within the college. “It’s providing a space so people can share. And I think that’s the keyword here,” Azevedo said.

Looking ahead, Azevedo hopes the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and perhaps the university as a whole will evolve in its approach to equity, diversity and inclusion. “[University of Calgary] put up a university-wide EDI week, so they have multiple events happening at multiple colleges and multiple days. I think this would be something great for us, and that would be the first step into getting to a more equal and diverse and just inclusive environment.”

“If we could get this one thing, one thing to change, then that would be great,” she added.

The committee hopes to host more events in the future, featuring a series of discussions among students, staff, and faculty. They are also working on projects, including gender-inclusive washrooms, installing infant changing stations, reviewing building accessibility, and fostering connections with underrepresented groups.

For more information about the committee, and its goals, visit here.

“Courageous Conversations: A Spotlight on Individual Experiences” will take place on March 5, from 2:30 p.m. in the AGRI 2C71 room at the College of Agriculture and Bioresources.