Six Queen’s community members – two faculty, two students, and two staff – have been named to the Principal’s Implementation Committee on Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion. The committee will be tasked with expeditiously reviewing past reports on these issues and making short- and long-term recommendations for change. 

“This committee will help the university initiate a meaningful and sustained conversation on racism, diversity, and inclusion at Queen’s,” says Principal Daniel Woolf. “We know that others have looked at these issues in the past, and so our goal is not to replicate their work, but to build on it with actions as expeditiously as possible.” 

Three committee members were elected by Senate, while the other three were appointed by the principal.

“There was a great deal of interest from our community members, not only to serve on the committee but also to assist the committee moving forward,” says Principal Woolf. “I am very grateful to the individuals who have graciously agreed to dedicate themselves to this work in the coming months, and look forward to receiving their recommendations.”

The committee members are: 

• Dev Aransevia (Artsci’17), a fourth-year Global Development Studies student
• Yolande Chan, faculty member in the Smith School of Business 
• Hana Chaudhury, a third-year Commerce student 
• Laeeque Daneshmend, faculty member in the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining Engineering, cross-
  appointed to the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
• Nilani Loganathan, staff member in the Business Career Centre in Smith School of Business
• Tim Tang, staff member in the Office of Advancement

Other members of the university community will be appointed by the principal as ex-officio non-voting members to permit immediate feedback on questions, suggestions, and recommendations. These will include the rector as well as representatives from the university’s Human Rights and Equity Office and University Relations.

In addition, given the need to ensure access by the committee and the principal to specialized resources, the principal will also appoint a reference group, with specific expertise, to which questions or suggestions of the committee with financial, legal, structural, or other implications may be referred for immediate feedback. The reference group will be formed after the committee has met for the first time.

The committee will have its first meeting by the end of the month and will submit to the principal, no later than March 31, 2017, a final list of actions to be implemented that identifies priorities, suggested timelines, and measures to evaluate the success of implementation. 

For more information visit the principal’s website.