Update on Principal's LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee

A message from Dr. David Malloy, King's Principal:

Since I became Principal of King’s in 2019, equity, diversity and inclusion have been important priorities for me. This week, I was pleased to welcome representatives from the Principal’s Advisory Committee on LGBTQ2S+ to the King’s Executive Team meeting. They brought forward a document that detailed the Advisory Committee’s journey as well as its recommendations.

I want to thank the members of the Advisory Committee which includes faculty, staff and our student leaders. It was co-chaired by Adrienne Co-Dyre, our Director of Libraries, and Dr. Rosemary Vito, faculty in our School of Social Work.

I am sharing with you the Advisory Committee’s journey document (below). I am endorsing the group’s recommendations which are:

1. Creation of an LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group
2. A presentation at the April College Council meeting for the LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee to present our "Message to the King’s Community" document and to announce the creation of the LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group.
3. Recommendations that seek to enable the safe visibility of members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and its allies at King’s.
4. The introduction of a carefully designed program of active listening intended to create safe person-centred opportunities for dialogue to advance a culture of inclusion at King’s.

Sincerely,
David C. Malloy, PhD
Principal
King’s University College

 

Journey Document of the Principal’s LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee

As the Principal’s LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee moves into the next stage of its work – developing an LGBTQ2S+ King’s working group and active listening - we, as a Committee, are seeking to provide an update on our progress to date.

The Principal's LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee was struck in June 2019 with the task of advising the Principal on responsive approaches to meaningfully enacting the equity, diversity, and inclusion based aspirations of King’s Strategic Plan (Section 2.5.6) with particular emphasis on advancing LGBTQ2S+ inclusion within our Catholic post-secondary educational context.

Since June 2019, the Committee has engaged in a carefully paced process with a view to building a collective understanding of the internal and external influences that affect LGBTQ2S+ inclusion at King’s. Particularly, our Committee continues to engage in a meaningful process that seeks to afford sensitivity to all positionalities in assessing the various approaches and ways of understanding LGBTQ2S+ inclusion. By way of engaging in this process to date, a common theme has emerged that is embodied in the Catholic principle of care for whole human person. This principle and the call to stand in solidarity with those positioned at the margins is deftly captured in the God is On Your Side: A Statement from Catholic Bishops on Protecting LGBT Youth that was recently published by the Tyler Clementi Foundation. The KUCSC’s (2019) LGBTQ2S+ Inclusion at King’s University College: Advocacy Paper, serves as a resource that guides and affirms our Committee’s person-centred approach.

In seeking to advance the Catholic principle of care for the entire person, King’s Mental Health and Wellness Plan and the Okanagan Charter specifically identify LGBTQ2S+ persons as those who are positioned at the margins in faith-based contexts. In reference to the first tier of King’s Mental Health and Wellness Plan - a healthy campus environment/community - Robinson (2017) recommends increased visibility for faith-sensitive groups at King’s (p. 11-12). One of the underlying core values of King’s plan is the inclusion of stakeholder input from marginalized populations especially with reference to LGBTQ2S+ persons and their allies. As such, the Principal’s LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee seeks for the LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group be formed to then develop and engage in a process of active listening that is centered on the principle of care for the entire person as a means of seeking stakeholder input to inform our future recommendations and actions.

Moving forward, Members of the King’s Community can expect to see the following actions and/or recommendations from our Committee:

1. Creation of an LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group
2. A presentation at the April College Council meeting for the LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee to present our ‘Message to the King’s Community’ document and to announce the creation of the LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group .
3. Recommendations that seek to enable the safe visibility of members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and its allies at King’s.
4. The introduction of a carefully designed program of active listening intended to create safe person-centred opportunities for dialogue to advance a culture of inclusion at King’s.

As we, the King’s community, pave a way forward on our shared journey toward the meaningful inclusion of all people, the LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Committee will recommend that the newly formed LGBTQ2S+ King’s Working Group create a carefully designed active listening process that invites the entire King’s community to engage in the development of responsive approaches to meaningfully enacting the equity, diversity, and inclusion based aspirations of King’s Strategic Plan (Section 2.5.6) with particular emphasis on advancing LGBTQ2S+ inclusion within our Catholic post-secondary educational context.

Sincerely,
Adrienne Co-Dyre & Rosemary Vito
Co-Chairs, Principal’s Advisory Group on LGBQT2S+