To continue the promotion of inclusivity and anti-racism efforts on campus, the Human Rights Office has created two new positions that will provide strategies to promote institutional inclusivity at Queen’s.
Hired in March, Lavie Williams is the new Inclusion & Anti-Racism Advisor on campus while Erin Clow, hired in February, will assume the inaugural position of Education and Communication Advisor.
The positions manifested from the Principal’s Implementation Committee on Racism, Diversity and Inclusion (PICRDI) final report recommendations. Released in April of 2017, the report recommends different steps the University can take to increase inclusivity and promote anti-racism on campus.
In an email to The Journal, Williams said she will be responsible for serving as a for those impacted by “systems of oppression like racism.”
As the Inclusion & Anti-Racism Advisor, she will also work towards the office’s overall mandate focused on the development, implementation and monitoring of institutional inclusion and anti-oppression strategies.
Williams completed her Bachelor of Science at Queen’s in 2014 and then went to the University of Sussex in 2017 to obtain a Masters in Human Rights. She applied for the position because it aligned with her ion and added she was excited “to contribute to the ongoing work of advancing anti-racism and anti-oppression at Queen’s.”
“I hope to collaborate with and empower our community to truly embed anti-racism and achieve substantive change through conscientious action and efforts to decolonize the institution,” she continued.
For Clow, the Human Rights and Equity Office isn’t a new environment. Since 2014 she has worked with the Office as an Equity Advisor and prior to her new role was the Education and Communication Advisor.
Clow completed her Bachelor of Arts in 2006 in Gender Studies and Politics and Masters in Canadian and Indigenous Studies at Trent University. She completed her PhD in 2014 at Queen’s in Political Studies.
“As the Education and Communications Advisor, I am responsible for the development and facilitation of a wide variety of educational programs and trainings,” Clow told The Journal in an email. “I am excited to work collaboratively with of the Queen’s community as we strive to engage in the important process of (un)learning in relation to topics associated with diversity and inclusion.”
She will also be working to find new areas within the Queen’s community where learning opportunities can be introduced or improved upon.
“These are hopeful times at Queen’s University,” Clow wrote. “The momentum behind initiatives related to diversity and inclusion, broadly defined, is palpable on campus. I am honoured to be able to work alongside campus stakeholders as we work together to build an inclusive campus community.”
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