A message from Dean Walters

A message from the Dean

Every February, we honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present, during Black History Month. It is a period of celebration, recognition, and introspection, as we pay tribute to the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate, and prosperous nation we know today. At the same time, it is also a poignant reminder of the systemic barriers to justice, inequalities, and biases that persist in our society. While diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of Canadian identity, we know that there are still very real challenges that we need to overcome, collectively.

As the brilliant U.S. youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, said on the recent inauguration of a new American president, “this is the era of just redemption.” In 2020, we heard a growing chorus of voices unite to speak up about the pain, frustration, inequities, and racism that exists in Canada and across North America, which, in turn, helped raise the level of public discourse around racial discrimination and inspired positive change. And while certainly not the catalyst, it was an inflection point, and hopefully a decisive step towards a reorientation of our society.

As an institution dedicated to the teaching and administration of justice, Queen’s Law has a special responsibility to ensure students are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to combat systemic barriers in the legal profession. Moreover, we need to ensure that members of communities that are under-represented in the legal profession are able to pursue a legal education at Queen’s, and, once they are here, that they find a community that is an inclusive and empowering place to thrive intellectually, socially and professionally.

At Queen’s Law, we will confront these challenges as a community, guided by our values, our enduring commitments, and our founding ideals.

In recognition of Black History Month, over the coming weeks we intend to post and share stories featuring past and present students and members of our community on the topic of Black representation in the legal profession and Queen’s Law. Our goal is to facilitate a conversation on where we need to go as a school and a sector to effectively encourage equality and diversity in all aspects of our profession, both now and in the future.
I also encourage you to participate in the Black History Month events and discussions going on throughout the month. Learn more by visiting Kingston’s live calendar.

Warmest regards,

Mark Walters
Dean, Faculty of Law

News

Using the history of anti-Black racism to shape a more just future - Dhaman Kissoon, Law’89, 30-year teacher of Racism and Canadian Legal Culture at Queen’s Law, talks about how media and social media are bringing racism issues to the forefront like never before and how Black Lives Matter may be strong enough to keep them there.
Addressing systemic racism and increasing Black representation in the legal profession, a student’s perspective - Nas Mumin, Law’21, President of the Black Law Student’s Association-Queen’s Chapter and a student member of the school’s Anti-Racism Working Group, shares his views.
Queen’s instructor to appear in appeal on systemic racism in sentencing Black offenders - Annamaria Enenajor, teacher of Bias and Criminal Justice System Outcomes, may be making history on Feb. 11, when she argues before the Ontario Court of Appeal for a case that may result in a principle for courts to consider systemic disadvantages Black offenders face when sentencing.

Events

The Queen’s Black Alumni Chapter is taking over. On Wednesday Feb 17, 2021, check out queensu_alumni Instagram stories as @qbachapter executives post questions, offer networking tips for Black grads, and conduct Instagram Live interviews with lawyer Daniel Quainoo, Artsci’15, and technology advocate Janey Buzugbe, MMIE’18, about their Queen’s experiences.

Strategic Inititatives

We have established opportunities to explore systemic barriers in the legal profession through dialogue, as we continue to shape the future of our school, as well as through several strategic initiatives that are designed to drive meaningful change at our school:

> This past January, we launched the engagement phase of the strategic framework for 2021-2025 that builds on the 2020 survey, discussion paper, and preliminary consultations. Education, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity (EDII) will be a strategic pillar of the forthcoming plan, and we invite students and our broader community to contribute to this process. We have held a number of on-line consultation sessions, and our co-chairs and broader Strategic Planning Committee are also eager to hear directly from people who have perspectives to share by emailing: law.strategic.planning@queensu.ca.

> In September 2020, we launched the Queen’s Law Anti-Racism Working Group with a mandate of increasing Black representation and addressing barriers to success. One of the major initiatives to emerge from this process will be the development of a Black Student Admissions Stream designed for Black applicants who self-identify as either Black Canadians or multi-racial Canadians with Black ancestry. This initiative is focused on encouraging greater representation and removing barriers that might impede students from applying. We will be communicating this more definitively in the coming months.

> In 2020, we also launched a campaign in support of the student-initiated Cecil Allan Fraser Bursary for Black students, named after our school’s first Black graduate, Cecil Fraser, Law’61. This bursary project underscores the immensely important role that our students play in stewarding initiatives, as well as the broader Queen’s Law community for supporting their success through financial commitments.

Student Initiatives

> Dakota Bundy, Law'22, a member of our Career Development Office's student committee, organized a legacy project panel on diversity and inclusion that took place via Zoom on November 23, 2020. She teamed up with four student clubs – First Generation Network-Queen’s Chapter, Black Law Students' Association-Queen's Chapter, Queen’s OutLaw, and the Indigenous Law Students’ Alliance – to select a panel of diverse alumni. Panelists share their perspectives about their identities, their experiences in the legal field, how to overcome challenges, and where they see opportunities for the future. We hope to facilitate more discussions like this soon.

> While not a Faculty-driven initiative, I wanted to point out a project by Abiola Akinyemi, Law'22 (Equity and Diversity Co-Commissioner 2020-2021), and the Law Students’ Society, to develop an equity and diversity resource bank, which includes links to Queen’s- and Kingston-based support resources for Black students and community members. This is an excellent collection of equity-focused resources. It also lists important Queen’s Law contacts, like Helen Connop, the Manager of Education and Equity Services, who provides supportive counselling and referral/advisory services to students of historically marginalized backgrounds, networking support on EDII initiatives, and other services.

> Lastly, in the coming weeks I will be setting up a recurring series of virtual engagement sessions with students. While these sessions will be informal, I want to get your feedback on a variety of topics, including those around ways to promote greater inclusion and diversity in all forms.