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Racism is a Public Health Crisis

The Dalla Lana School of Public Health seeks to nurture excellence in the capacity to understand and respond to the root causes of inequity and exclusion, and their links to health and well-being. We recognize that achieving this excellence will not occur without committed, comprehensive and resourced collective action. We have made investments to support faculty members of diverse communities to provide tangible reform and actions to advance these causes at the forefront of public health.

We stand together to address injustices experienced by members of our community.

Our Commitment

We recognize that equity and inequity play out in important ways at the interpersonal and individual levels, but we understand their origin to be in social structures that have historic, economic, and political roots. This framing also asserts that equity is relational in nature. That is, equity not only involves groups in society that are disadvantaged by certain social structures but also involves groups receiving unearned benefits from these same structures.

We will proactively seek to increase diversity among our community members, and it is our aim to have a student body and teaching and administrative staffs that mirror the diversity of the pool of qualified applicants for those positions. We are already making these investments to address racism to help create a healthier world.

Learn more about equity and inclusion initiatives at the University of Toronto, including our most recent reports:

  • U of T’s response to Truth and Reconciliation.
  • Report from U of T’s Working Group on Anti-Semitism.
  • Report from U of T’s Task Force on Anti-Black Racism.
  • Report from U of T’s Anti-Asian Racism Working Group.

*Images on this page may not be reproduced without the explicit consent of DLSPH and illustrator Suharu Ogawa*

What's new in Equity

Our support of equity is grounded in an institution-wide commitment to achieving a working, teaching, and learning environment that is free of discrimination and harassment as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

In striving to become a more equitable community, we will also work to eliminate, reduce or mitigate the adverse effects of any barriers to full participation in University life including physical, attitudinal, technological or communication-related barriers.


Accountability

Investments have been made to ensure that we support faculty members of diverse communities to provide tangible reform and actions to advance these causes at the forefront of public health.