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Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

A joint message from Dean Jacoby and Asper Student Association Presidents

September 15, 2020 — 

The overwhelming degree to which systemic racism pollutes institutions worldwide has made us, at the Asper School of Business, stop and think about what we can do to improve.

Students at many Canadian business schools have expressed discomfort with the ongoing management of, as well as the response to, issues concerning Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). It would be naïve to think that the Asper School of Business is immune to this issue; recently, we have received some helpful feedback from students and from alumni, regarding discriminatory incidences experienced on and off campus.

We, as a community, can do better. To support our commitment to this issue, the School has formed an EDI taskforce, which aims at proactively addressing discrimination head-on.

Through the EDI task force, we endeavor to foster a more inclusive learning environment for every single student that attends and/or interacts with the Asper School of Business. The taskforce will launch a series of workshops and online tools, designed to promote equal opportunity practices; host EDI training for all faculty, staff, and students; and create new EDI contact points for all Asper stakeholders, including a recently launched dedicated messaging option.

We recognize and thank the individuals who have come forward to share their experiences, as well as those people who have provided ideas for positive change. Please do not hesitate to contact the dedicated e-mail, provided above, to recount incidences, provide recommendations and help us improve.

We, at the Asper School, are extremely committed to welcoming, involving and mutually learning from, as well as with, all members of our community: we take great pride in the diversity of our students, our faculty and our staff. Together, with the help of our community – our friends – we move forward, better than we were before.

Gady Jacoby, Ph.D.
Dean and CPA Manitoba Chair in Business Leadership
I.H. Asper School of Business

Stephanie Kalo, President
Commerce Students’ Association

Abhas Deodhiya and Tyler Phill, Co-Presidents
Asper MBA Student Association

Xinran Wang, President
Asper Master of Finance Association of Students

Zulfiquer Ali Haider, President
Asper MSc & PhD Student Association

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