In collaboration with the UTM Women’s Centre, OUT@UTM, and student clubs, UTMSU will be launching an Equity Service Centre to offer office spaces for Racialized and Indigenous, Women and Trans, and Queer groups.
In an email to The Medium, UTMSU’s VP equity Maleeha Baig, stated that the centre comes following threats that some marginalized communities, like the LGBTQ, Indigenous, racialized, and trans groups, experience at U of T.
“We decided to create this office space because it will help students have access to all the resources and information in one area,” wrote Baig. “Our goal is to provide students with all the support, resources, and information they may need to navigate different situations.”
“Spaces like these [equity centres] are provided by other Student Unions across the country, and we think it would be a wonderful addition to the campaigns and advocacy work that the UTMSU does,” said Baig.
Other equity centers run by different student unions across Canadian universities include Ryerson University’s RyePRIDE, which is also an equity service centre of the Ryerson Students’ Union.
According to RSU’s website, RyePRIDE is a place for the queer and trans voices on campus, and is “proud to be building an inclusive campus since 1977.”
Located on the second floor of UTM’s Student Centre, the Equity Service Centre is expected to open before the Winter Reading Week in February.
