Celebrating Pink Shirt Day: Promoting acts of courage
The following remarks were delivered at the annual Vice-President, Finance and Operations Pink Shirt Day event held on February 28, 2024.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Arig al Shaibah (she/her), and I oversee the Equity & Inclusion Office with team members on both Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
I am grateful for the generosity of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) and Syilx (Okanagan) Peoples on whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territories we have the privilege to live and work.
Thank you for inviting me to make remarks on this national Pink Shirt Day, which gives us an opportunity to pause to reinforce our value for inclusion and our commitment to preventing and addressing bullying and harassment in our communities and our workplaces.
There are many types of bullying and harassment – physical, verbal, sexual, social, and cyber bullying or harassment.
All of these forms contravene UBC’s Respectful Environment Statement, and some may contravene our Discrimination Policy if the behaviour denies opportunities to or unfairly treats individuals or groups on the basis of one or more protected characteristic, such as race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, and political belief for example.
Bullying and harassment create a hostile or intimidating environment.
We all have a responsibility to check our own behaviour, and we are invited to seek out help or consult if we are experiencing or have witnessed this kind of behaviour.
However, I do want to take a moment to talk about the role of leaders in modeling and fostering respectful behaviour.
This year’s theme is Acts of Courage.
According to a study conducted by Deloitte – a consulting firm – courage is one of six core qualities of inclusive leadership.
If we are to succeed in preventing and addressing bullying and harassment at UBC, these six qualities are so important to cultivate in all of us, and especially in leaders:
- The first quality is Commitment – a commitment to inclusion because it aligns with our personal values and because we know inclusion enriches our community and organizational health and success;
- The second is Curiosity, that comes with empathy an openness to different and divergent perspectives;
- The third is Cognizance, or awareness of personal biases so that we can ensure we are making fair, transparent, consistent, and equitable decisions;
- The fourth is Cultural Intelligence, which grows with a drive to learn about different cultures and to become more capable of engaging across diverse communities;
- The fifth is Collaboration, to empower others so that they feel comfortable to use their voice and contribute in teams; and
- The sixth is Courage – the courage to speak up and challenge the status quo and to have the humility to acknowledge the limitations of our own experiences, knowledge, or skills.
A respectful climate requires all individuals to develop these inclusive qualities and to regulate their behaviour but, more importantly, it requires leaders to work hard to shift the culture by disincentivizing bullying and harassing as well as discriminatory behaviour.
These are difficult and emotionally fraught times, when individual behaviours and organizational culture profoundly matter to student, faculty, and staff success as well as to the university’s vibrancy and vitality.
Courage invites us contribute to “brave spaces” – to foster constructive engagement and dialogue across difference.
I know that during these times we can feel at a loss for whether and how to respond, and I want to reinforce that we will always do better in these situations if we focus on the six qualities I mentioned, and if we insist on showing care and compassion for each other.
I hope today serves to strengthen our collective efforts to create the kind of respectful, inclusive, safe and brave campus environment we all deserve.
Thank you!
Arig al Shabiah, (she/her)
Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion
Ikechukwu Ibebugwu
Project Manager, Institutional Initiatives
Campus: UBC Okanagan
Pronouns: he, him, his
Bio
As a Project Manager, Institutional Initiatives Planning and Evaluation, Ike manages small to large-scale projects to advance work around one of UBC’s guiding principles, promoting equity, anti-racism, inclusion and lasting and meaningful reconciliation. Ike completed his Bachelors in Environmental Management in Nigeria and his Master in Economics and Management at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. Ike is a well-equipped Project Manager, with his most recent experience as a Project Manager with the Ministry of Health working on the Surgical Renewal Project and 5-Year Surgical Framework to improve equitable access to surgeries in BC. When Ike is not working, you will find him out in nature exploring hiking trails in the summer or skiing in the winter.
Email: ike.ibebugwu@ubc.ca
Address:
Admin 100C
1138 Alumni Avenue
Kelowna, BC
V1V 1V7
Kara Ellison
Human Rights Advisor
Campus: UBC Okanagan
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Bio
Kara provides impartial human rights advice and information to all members of the UBC community.
Prior to joining the EIO, Kara was a litigator in private practice, practicing primarily in the areas of employment, human rights, and labour law. She obtained her J.D. from the University of Victoria, and obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration from Thompson Rivers University.
Kara’s education and experience has given her a thorough understanding of human rights law and policy. In applying this knowledge to her role with the UBC Equity & Inclusion Office, Kara strives to bring a balance of compassion, creativity, and practicality to her work. Kara hopes to foster a more equitable and inclusive society by improving access to, and understanding of, legal rights and obligations.
Email: kara.ellison@ubc.ca
Address:
Admin 100C
1138 Alumni Avenue
Kelowna, BC
V1V 1V7
National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia
January 29 has been designated by the Canadian government as the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia – an opportunity to honour the survivors and victims of a violent hate-motivated attack on Muslim worshipers at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Sainte-Foy, Quebec in 2017. It is also a day to commit to ongoing efforts to combat Islamophobia in all of its manifestations from biased and bigoted attitudes, to individual and systemic acts of discrimination, to hate-motivated violence.
Sadly, Islamophobic hate crimes in Canada are on the rise, along with other forms of bias motivated hate crimes. In 2021, police-reported hate crimes in Canada demonstrated a rise in hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity as well as by religion. While Islamophobia represented 4 per cent of all reports, it increased by a staggering 71 per cent over the previous year. And, because the Muslim Ummah (community) is ethno-racially and globally diverse, Islamophobia often manifests in intersecting ways with other forms of race or ethnicity based hate, and particularly with anti-Black, anti-Arab, and/or anti-Asian racism. Anti-Black hate crimes represented the greatest proportion of hate crimes reported, at 19 per cent, while hate crimes targeting Arab/West Asian and South Asian people represented 5 per cent and 5 per cent of all reports, and increased by 46 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
Join UBC students, faculty, and staff to honour the survivors and victims of the Quebec attack and other violence targeting Muslims, to learn more about Islamophobia and intersecting forms of racism, and to personally commit to combating hate in all of its forms. Click here for more information.
While hate speech and bias motived violence are criminal offenses in Canada and should be reported to the police, bias motivated discrimination contravenes UBC’s Discrimination Policy, which is guided by the BC Human Rights Code. For more information about how to report hate, Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination on campus, view the UBC Discrimination Complaint Process found on the Human Rights Advising page.
Arig al Shaibah, PhD
Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Join UBC students, faculty, and staff in learning more about the importance of preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism, and to reflect on our individual and collective responsibilities to safeguard human rights locally and globally. Click here for more information.
While hate speech and bias motived violence are criminal offenses in Canada and should be reported to the police, bias motivated discrimination contravenes UBC’s Discrimination Policy, which is guided by the BC Human Rights Code. For more information about how to report hate, antisemitism and other forms of discrimination on campus, view the UBC Discrimination Complaint Process found on the Human Rights Advising page.
Arig al Shaibah, PhD
Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion