Dear members of the McGill community,
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Happy new year!
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We hope that you had a chance to spend some time with loved ones over the holidays and that you are returning to campus feeling restored and ready for the new term. On our end, we both relished quiet time with our respective families after a busy Fall term. We now look forward to continuing to oversee McGill’s academic mission as Co-Acting Provosts for the period ahead, until Professor Chris Manfredi returns to the role on April 1st, when we will welcome our new Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deep Saini.
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As is customary for the Provost to do at the start of each term, we take this occasion to remind everyone of the importance of pursuing our work as learners, teachers, and scholars in a manner that aligns with McGill’s Mission and Principles, namely: academic freedom, integrity, responsibility, equity, and inclusiveness.
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In a similar vein, we underline the importance of upholding our commitment to building a campus community that is safe and respectful, which promotes equity, and which cultivates a sense of belonging for all regardless of our identities and ideologies. Delivering on this commitment is a collective responsibility, expressed through various university policies and reports, such as:
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- Policy against Sexual Violence
- Policy on Harassment and Discrimination
- EDI Strategic Plan
- Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education
- Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism
- Initiative against Islamophobia and Antisemitism
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A range of support services also are in place to support our commitments to safe and inclusive environments for McGill’s students, faculty, and staff. These include:
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- (for all)
- (for all)
- (for faculty and staff)
- Office of the Dean of Students (for all students)
- Wellness Hub (for all students)
- First Peoples’ House (for Indigenous students)
- Black Student Affairs Liaison (for Black students)
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This term, we add two new important resources to this list of supports. We are delighted to welcome rachel.hatcher [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Jewish%20Student%20Affairs%20Liaison) (Rachel Hatcher), who will soon begin her role as McGill’s new Jewish Student Affairs Liaison and farah.chouayakh [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Muslim%20Student%20Affairs%20Liaison) (Farah Chouayakh), our new Muslim Student Affairs Liaison. These positions have been established to respond to important student needs expressed during the consultations we undertook last spring as part of McGill’s Initiative against Islamophobia and Antisemitism (IAIAS). Farah and Rachel will join us when we cohost, with the Faculties of Education, Law, and Medicine and Health Sciences, a and its effects on students on February 1st at 3:30 pm. All are welcome.
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The work needed to maintain an academic community marked by excellence, wellness, and inclusion is necessarily collective and continuous. At the same time, it is also incredibly promising, offering the opportunity to engage critically with the ideas around us in a way that both challenges and uplifts us.
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As we pursue our respective resolutions and goals in 2023, let’s remember to keep an eye out for our own health and one another’s. Keep in mind the importance of pacing and perspective, and of offering, seeking, and accepting support any time this feels right.
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Best wishes for a successful and happy Winter 2023 term!
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Angela Campbell & Fabrice Labeau
Co-Acting Provosts & Vice-Principals (Academic)