February 24, 2020

February 24, 2020

THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

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The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880 Vol. CXL, No. 18 | February 24, 2020 | thevarsity.ca

Vol. CXL, No. 18

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Letter from the artist

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A celebration of Black beauty

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woman decorated in gold, with the panAfrican flag colours in the background.

The pan-African flag colours — red, black, and green — represent the bloodshed of Africans who died in the fight for liberation, the colour of their skin, and the

fertility of their land. I thought it was an important flag to include because of the ideology behind it: solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora ethnic groups of African descent, which is a major theme of Black History Month.

Makena Mwenda designed the cover of The Varsity’s Issue 18 in celebration of Black History Month.

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To me, Black History Month means the celebration of Black heritage, culture, beauty, and the unity of everyone around the world with African ethnic descent.

I tried to tie all these concepts into the cover piece by depicting a laughing Black

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Bonus answer: ROBARTS

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FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Eve Saint discusses arrest and forced removal from Wet’suwet’en territory at Toronto event

Daughter of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief, pipeline protestors speak out

Eve Saint spoke about her experience being forcibly removed by the RCMP. VICTORIA LEE/THE VARSITY

Mikaela Toone Associate News Editor

Wet’suwet’en land defender Eve Saint described her arrest on her peoples’ territory at a talk in Regent Park Community Centre, hosted by the Toronto division of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) on February 20.

Saint sang the women’s warrior song as she was removed from Wet’suwet’en territory by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers for taking part in a blockade against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline.

She was arrested at Gidimt’en, one of two checkpoints set up the Wet’suwet’en people to stop the CGL pipeline from being built on their unceded lands. Though the Wet’suwet’en gave Coastal GasLink an alternative route, the company has rejected it.

After the British Columbia Supreme Court is-

sued an injunction to clear the roads in December, the RCMP began an operation to clear the blockades and arrest protestors, which in turn sparked nation-wide solidarity protests.

“You know, your father, your ancestors have walked the territory for thousands and thousands of years, and you’re being treated like a criminal,” said Saint.

As armed RCMP officers moved around the blockade, the thought at the front of Saint’s mind was that someone was going to get shot. “My main goal was to make sure that they know that we’re unarmed, we’re peaceful,” Saint recounted of the moment that the RCMP officers closed in.

In December, The Guardian reported that the RCMP, in its plans to clear the road for the CGL pipeline, was prepared to use lethal force, and in leaked documents had proposed “[using] as much violence toward the gate as you want.” It further added that arrests would be necessary for “steril-

izing [the] site.”

Based in Toronto, Saint had been visiting a sick family member when the RCMP moved to enforce the court injunction against the pipeline protestors. At that moment Saint made the decision to leave school and her life in Toronto to help her father, Hereditary Chief Woos, and others’ efforts to halt the construction of the pipeline Wet’suwet’en territory.

Hereditary chiefs titles are passed down through generations — Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have authority over their unceded territory as per pre-colonial Wet’suwet’en law. While the Elected Band Councils are in favour of the pipeline, they only have jurisdiction over reserves and not the unceded territory that the pipeline would pass through. Furthermore, the band councils were created under the Indian Act, which does not predate the hereditary chiefs’ authority.

On February 7, Saint was told that the RCMP

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officers were on their way to her location at Gidimt’en checkpoint blockade. Saint described preparing for RCMP arrival by eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, and thinking over what she would say to them upon arrival.

Saint said that she told the RCMP during its raid of Gidimt’en, while helicopters and drones could be heard overhead, that “they are trespassing and that they have no consent.”

Despite this, the RCMP moved in, and Saint was arrested and held in custody for four days.

Saint spoke of crying in custody because she wished she could have done more. However, shortly before the raid she had found out she was pregnant and made every effort to maintain the safety of her person.

Vanessa Gray from Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia, Ontario, also spoke at the OCAP event.

Along with members of Climate Justice Toronto, Gray occupied the office of the federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Carolyn Bennett.

Gray stressed that this is not a “new issue.”

“While the rest of you have an option to do something, we have been raised in Indigenous families that have only been surviving this same issue,” said Gray, who is also a co-founder of Aamjiwnaang & Sarnia Against Pipelines.

A U of T student studying political science and Indigenous studies, Ross Johnston, attended the event. Though informed on the issues in Wet’suwet’en territory, Johnston hoped to learn from the speakers’ personal experiences.This is not the first Wet’suwet’en solidarity event for Johnston, who also attended a “big march on Family Day and a few smaller things up in Northern Ontario… [where] we got some solid support from people on the side of the road.”

Johnston said that the protests “solidified the fact that this was a growing movement and that gave [him] a lot of hope.”

At this time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for an end to the rail blockades that are held in solidarity across the country. CGL has been told by British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office that further talks are needed with the Wet’suwet’en people before construction continues. The gas company has been given 30 days to complete these consultations.

U of T faculty sign petition to address anti-Semitism on campus Petition sent to president outlines five demands following dispute between Hillel and UTGSU

Hannah Carty Associate News Editor

Over 60 U of T professors have signed a petition to President Meric Gertler asking him to take action against anti-Semitism on campus. The petition was released on November 18, 2019, following an incident between Hillel UofT and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), where the union was accused of antiSemitism. The petition authors say that Gertler has recently agreed to a meeting.

In November, the UTGSU’s former External Commissioner, Maryssa Barras, sent an email to Hillel in response to its request for support of its campaign to bring kosher food to campus. The email allegedly insinuated that the union would not support the campaign as a result of Hillel’s “pro-Israel” stance. The union has since apologized and Barras has resigned.

The text of the petition mainly criticizes the UTGSU, which, along with the incident over kosher food, has formally supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement since 2012. The BDS movement aims to economically sanction the state of Israel and boycott organizations that support it.

This is done in an effort to condone Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, which has been condemned as illegal by the United Nations.

Some critics of the movement, including the petitioners, argue that the movement’s sole focus on Israel, and anti-Semitic comments made by the movement’s leadership, point toward antiSemitic intentions behind the movement itself.

In an article published in the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) on February 7, Psychology Professor Stuart Kamenetsky and Dentistry Professor Howard Tenenbaum expressed disappointment

at the lack of an expedient and adequate response from the university at the time, especially as Gertler had written an article on preventing antiSemitism at U of T for CJN in September 2019.

Kamenetsky, the Undergraduate Director and Program Advisor of Psychology at UTM, said in an interview with The Varsity that Gertler’s article “promised that [anti-Semitism was] something that he really cares about and will do something about. So then when he never responded to us, we really felt that that was not a good-faith type of practice.” According to Kamenetsky, the president granted the group’s request for a meeting after the CJN article was published.

“We’re not even commenting on [whether] what the state of Israel does is right or wrong,” said Kamenetsky. “The bigger issue is that Jewish students on campus should not in any way, shape, or form be held responsible for what another country does.” He feels that “the BDS movement does just that.”

The petition lists five demands for the university to fulfill. The first two pertain to the UTGSU. The first one asks that the university condemn the union’s actions in the incident over the kosher food campaign. “We really felt that the University of Toronto should actually issue a clear statement condemning [about] what happened over there, and it really didn’t,” said Kamenetsky.

The second demand asks that the university investigate the UTGSU for any “policies and campaigns it utilizes that are informed by antisemitic or otherwise discriminatory worldviews.”

The third item, which requests the university’s help in providing more access to kosher food on campus, has already achieved partial success, as kosher food is now available at three locations in UTSG. The next demand references a graduate student

complaint against the UTGSU BDS committee through the university’s Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies (CRCSS), and asks that the university help expedite the complaint, alleging that the complaint “has been stymied at every turn.”

Lastly, the petition asks the university to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

Kamenetsky expects that if the university does adopt the IHRA definition, this “will really shut down BDS and many organizations [that we] now feel that are just a modern form of antisemitism.”

The IHRA defines anti-Semitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.

Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or nonJewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Overall, Kamenetsky identified one of the main concerns of the petitioners as “that sense that if this goes unchecked at the University of Toronto, it will just bring about a bigger decline.”

In a statement to The Varsity, a spokesperson for the UTGSU’s BDS Caucus wrote, “The [BDS] movement has been clear and consistent about its goals, aims, and practices. It is unfortunate that supporters of Israeli apartheid remain committed to misinformation, at the expense of

Palestinian liberation and international law.”

Going forward, the group hopes to add more signatures and increase the diversity of the signatories, as Kamenetsky noted they are mostly from the St. George campus and in the medical faculties.

U of T Media Relations wrote in a statement to The Varsity that “the President and senior administrators have reviewed the letter. The group has raised a number of concerns and the University is following up.”

U of T President Meric Gertler is facing backlash from professors over concerns of anti-Semitism on campus.

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UTSU Special General Meeting: external and university affairs executive positions merged New full-time vice-president public and university affairs position to focus on advocacy

UTSU executives fielded questions and concerns at their Special General Meeting on February 12.

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Hannah Carty Associate News Editor

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) held its Special General Meeting on February 12, addressing the merger of the vicepresident external affairs and vice-president university affairs positions to form a new vicepresident public and university affairs executive position.

The main item on the agenda was bylaw amendments, featuring the executive positions merger and the removal of committees from the bylaws.

The meeting was called to order at 6:16 pm, after waiting over an hour for the meeting to meet the required quorum of 50 members.

Vice-president public and university affairs position The main change in the bylaws was the merger of the vice-president external affairs and vicepresident university affairs roles, which are currently part-time positions at 25 hours per week.

The new role will be called vice-president public and university affairs, and will be a full-time position, at 40 hours per week. Joshua Bowman, President of the UTSU, noted that the current system can result in an “armchair advocacy apparatus,” whereby people who hold a position can advocate “whenever it’s convenient” for them. By having one role dedicated to advo-

cacy, the UTSU hopes to bring more focus to its advocacy work.

Alexa Ballis, President of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council, spoke against the change, expressing that she was “worried that combining these portfolios would overload the new position,” and that certain aspects of advocacy work could end up overlooked.

Vice-President External Affairs Lucas Granger and Vice-President, University Affairs Avani Singh both spoke in favour of the change.

“I’m so strongly in favor of this,” said Granger. He added that there is “a lot of redundancy within the work that can be done between what are considered the two major advocacy portfolios,” and that he often has to work with the university’s government relations department, crossing the lines between the two current positions.

Singh echoed Granger’s points about redundancy, and said that she felt that the change would actually make the position more accessible. In her experience, her role often requires more than 25 hours per week to complete adequately, and that therefore people might have incorrect expectations going into it. If the weekly hours of the new position are increased to 40, the role will have a more accurate expectation and be compensated more accurately, according to Singh. The bylaw change to merge the two roles passed, and will be in effect for the upcoming 2020 election.

Committee bylaws, advocacy initiatives addressed The UTSU hoped that the removal of specific committee mentions in the bylaws could provide more flexibility for committee purposes and for the creation of permanent committees in the future. “If we want to create a new committee to match the needs of students, we can,” said Bowman.

The change would allow for ad hoc committees, such as the mental health ad hoc committee, to become permanent more easily. Currently, ad hoc committees cease to exist after the term in which created.

In response to a question about combining the work of the mental health committee with an existing committee, both Bowman and VicePresident Operations Arjun Kaul defended the idea of a separate mental health committee. The bylaw change to remove committee mentions from the bylaws passed.

Following the debate over the bylaw changes, the meeting took a recess, but lost quorum during it. Bowman motioned to suspend the rules so that the meeting could continue discussions minuted.

After the vote to suspend the rules passed, Bowman gave his address, highlighting recent and upcoming initiatives of the UTSU. To address the particularly low voter turnout in the 2019 executive elections, the UTSU plans to launch a get out the vote campaign for the first time in several years. This will include setting up tables around campus on the last day of the voting period, where students will be able to vote using a UTSU laptop.

The nomination period for the 2020 UTSU elections will open on March 2 and will run until March 13.

Bowman also announced a health and dental referendum that will be on the ballot for the spring UTSU elections “largely with the purpose of restoring mental health coverage to the previous rate it was at last year,” before changes to the OHIP prompted a decrease in coverage.

Lastly, Bowman touched on the recent reforms made to the UTSU’s student aid program which doubled the amount given by the UTSU in awards from $10,000 two years prior, to over $20,000 in the past four months. The increase in funding will go to new bursaries such as an accessibility bursary and a health and wellness bursary, among others.

Low representation of Black authors in mandatory UTSG English courses, Varsity analysis finds

Mandatory courses have zero to three Black authors assigned

Mikaela Toone Associate News Editor

Black authors account for approximately 7.2 per cent of overall assigned authors for course readings in the four mandatory courses required for a UTSG English major or specialist, according to The Varsity’s analysis.

The Varsity looked at syllabi from this academic year for the following mandatory courses, each worth 0.5 credits: ENG202 — Introduction to British Literature I, ENG203 — Introduction to British Literature II , ENG250 — Introduction to American Literature, and ENG252 — Introduction to Canadian Literature. It should be noted that English professors design their own syllabi independently, meaning that featured au-

thors may change over the years and across instructors.

Of 83 assigned authors across the four courses in 2020, only six were Black. ENG202 — Introduction to British Literature I, had no Black authors in the syllabus among the 24 authors assigned. ENG203 — Introduction to British Literature II, had one Black author out of 17 authors, Zadie Smith. ENG250 — Introduction to American Literature, had three Black authors studied out of 19 authors: Felix, an enslaved person, Frederick Douglass, and Jesmyn Ward. Felix’s petition was a letter signed to the Massachusetts legislature in 1773, describing the dire conditions under which slaves were treated, and had a lone signatory, Felix. Finally, ENG252 — Introduction to Canadian Literature, had two Black authors studied out of 23 authors, Austin Clarke and Dionne Brand.

Students in an English major are also required to take an additional credit, and specialists are required to take two additional credits in pre-1800s British literature. Both majors and specialists must take a half credit in Indigenous, post-colonial, or transnational literature.

Adriana Williams, writing on behalf of U of T’s Black Students’ Association, told The Varsity that “historically it has been Eurocentric/West-

ern literature and thought that would be the base of many misconceptions about Blackness as a whole.” Williams asked: “Why should we continue to push out [a Black] narrative?”

As far as solutions toward the lack of representation of Black authors on mandatory English course syllabi, Williams wrote that it begins with the department: “The English program needs to create more specific program requirements that involve reading literature outside of the West.” Williams also emphasized the importance of having Black staff teach courses on Black literature.

Associate Chair of the English department, Naomi Morgenstern, told The Varsity that only looking at the required courses does not give a “good enough sense of what most students end up reading over the course of their degree.”

Morgenstern also emphasized that in order to do decolonization work within English, “It’s really helpful [to] read canonical things critically,” and stressed that the English department is interested in hearing feedback from students on the curriculum, noting that it would be willing to have discussions on the topic.

A U of T Media Relations spokesperson told The Varsity in an email that diversifying courses is an “ongoing effort” at the university, and that when programs come under review they are “prompted to consider the extent to which initiatives have been undertaken to enhance the program’s diversity.” Programs are required to be reviewed by the Office of the ViceProvost, Academic Programs every eight or fewer years.

YOON-JI KWEON/THE VARSITY

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FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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In the Spotlight: Black Graduate Students Association President Entisar Yusuf, Vice-President Sara Turner on Black community-building, graduate experiences, mental health

Ibnul Chowdhury Managing Editor

When Entisar Yusuf, who completed her undergraduate studies at Western University, arrived at U of T as a graduate student in the fall of 2018, she noticed a key difference between her two campus experiences: a lack of community, particularly as a Black student.

“At Western, I had good relations with the Black, African, and Caribbean associations. But when I came to U of T, I found some sort of disconnect,” she told The Varsity. “I wasn’t sure whether it was because of graduate studies, or if it was the school itself.”

On top of her personal feelings of isolation, she had also heard of public incidents of anti-Black racism on campus in recent years, including one at the Faculty of Applied Sciences & Engineering in 2017. This motivated her to try and find Black community on campus.

In her search, Yusuf found the Black Students’ Association, but realized that it is primarily geared toward undergraduate students. She wanted to find out if there was any interest for another space — for Black graduate students.

After an individual campaign of flyers and outreach emails, she discovered that there was indeed considerable interest. In November 2018, Yusuf set up the inaugural meeting where an election was held for the group’s executive.

By January 2019, the team was complete, and Yusuf, the group’s founder, became its first president. The Black Graduate Students’ Association (BGSA) was born.

The BGSA’s raison d’être Yusuf, who is still the group’s president and now a second-year master’s student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), explained the BGSA’s purpose: “In graduate studies, in my experience, Black students feel very isolated,” she noted. “[The BGSA’s] really a support system.”

Currently, the BGSA has seven executives and 190 members across graduate programs and professional faculties. While most of the membership is concentrated on the St. George campus, it is also looking to expand its reach to UTSC and UTM. When it comes to programming, the group is involved in a wide range of events. “I made clear

to the team that we could engage in anything, onor off-campus, that we think is relevant in order to support our students,” noted Yusuf.

On campus, the BGSA has worked with other student groups to host the “Women of Colour in Politics” and “Why Representation Matters in Canadian STEM Research” events last year. Off campus, they have been involved with the Toronto Black Film Festival, and more recently, Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

For Sara Turner, a master’s student at OISE and the vice-president of the BGSA, the group also operates as a promotional directory for other events on campus. “Different organizations will reach out to us in order to raise awareness about their events,” she told The Varsity.

“A lot of people who commute and go home after class are just not aware of some of the things that they can be doing on campus. So we raise awareness through our newsletters, in addition to connecting with people one-on-one.”

The diversity of Black graduate experiences When asked to describe the Black graduate experience at a school like U of T, Turner emphasized its non-singularity. “I must say first and foremost that I cannot speak for everyone. The Black communities on campus neither at the undergraduate level nor the graduate level are homogenous,” she stressed.

“We are diverse and it is my hope that any genuine effort taken to reflect and record Black graduate experiences takes into account that there are many voices to be represented, included, and listened to.”

Turner chose to answer the question by reflecting on her conversations with fellow Black graduate students. They spoke about microaggressions, like people’s disbelief that they attend or work at U of T, which contribute to feelings of discomfort and exclusion; the desire for more classes that can educate people about anti-Black racism; the need for more resources for racialized students on campus; and the need for better representation of Black faculty and staff on campus.

One student also stressed to Turner that the university should act against anti-Black racism more meaningfully, rather than as a gesture during Black History Month. For the occasion, the BGSA was present in a conversation about

The BGSA executive, from left to right: Shanice Howard, Alexis Whitehorn, Sara Turner, Entisar Yusuf, Sandra Osazuwa, Adrian Leckie, Christopher Adanty.

COURTESY OF LILIAN ADUSEI

collective futures with Black faculty at OISE on February 11, and will co-host two upcoming events: “Black Self-Care Fair” on February 25, and “Black Futures: Let’s Talk Careers in Tech” on February 26.

Centring Black mental health and wellness When asked about her reasoning for joining the BGSA, Turner highlighted the importance of such social gatherings for Black graduate students.

“I got really excited about this idea of creating a warm space and community on campus. Because I know that graduate school can be very isolating, and certainly there isn’t that much [Black] representation altogether,” she told The Varsity. “I wanted to see other Black graduates and engage with them.”

Turner also reflected on how her desire to “empower Black graduate students toward positive mental wellness” and her decision to join the BGSA, coincided with further developments of the mental health crisis at U of T last September.

Last November, the BGSA notably hosted a Black Mental Health Panel with Black professionals in the field. “It provided a forum for experts and community members to have a discussion,” reflected Yusuf. “This was fairly unique because we discussed issues and barriers that the Black population faces. And we’re also finding solutions… talking to professionals was a great resource for us.”

Given the importance of the topic, the BGSA is planning to host a second event on Black mental health in March.

“Being there for people, and providing a support network, is so important,” Turner noted. “I wanted to create events that would bring people together.”

On what still needs to be done, Yusuf stressed the need to put in the work beyond Black History Month: “As we embrace Black History Month as a time to reflect on our history, we need to be deliberate of the ongoing reflection and action to support our future.”

Almost 15 per cent of sitting UTSU board members resigned or deemed resigned in the past year

Seven out of 48 board members effectively resigned, decrease from previous years Lauren Alexander Associate News Editor

According to attendance records supplied by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), out of the 48 sitting members on the UTSU Board of Directors, four have resigned, while three have been deemed to have abandoned office in accordance with UTSU bylaws in the past year. This amounts to almost 15 per cent of sitting members, a decrease from The Varsity’s 2018 analysis, when a third of members missed enough meetings to effectively abandon office. Six members have been replaced, and one position remains vacant.

Board members who handed in their resignations include Trinity College Director Arunoshi Singh, Victoria College Director Thomas Siddall, Applied Science & Engineering Director Eran Vijayakumar, and Architecture and Visual Studies Director Jennille Neal.

Life Sciences Director Honesty Senese, Transitional Year Programme Director Valerie Dawe, and Professional Faculties at-Large Director Hasma Habibiy were all deemed to have abandoned their office.

The union’s bylaw 10, section 2 outlines the criteria for abandonment of office for a Division I or II director as “deemed to have delivered their

resignation, confirmed by a simple majority vote of the Board” when directors have failed to send their regrets for two missed meetings, or failed to attend three consecutive meetings, or any four meetings, regardless of sent regrets. If a director is unable to attend a meeting, they must send regrets to the speaker within 48 hours of receiving the agenda. Directors receive an excused absence if they cannot attend due to academic obligations, work, or religious observations, among others.

Otherwise, they are deemed absent.

Board members were marked present about 58 per cent of the time. About 33.3 per cent of absences were unexcused. Directors sent regrets for 18.7 per cent of absences, and 41.8 per cent of absences were excused.

In total, there have been 11 meetings of the UTSU Board of Directors since June of 2019.

This includes eight regular scheduled meetings, three of which took place over the summer, as well as an emergency meeting, the Annual General Meeting, and the Special General Meeting.

A resignation by a director can be blocked if a simple majority of the Board of Directors votes against the motion. Instead, the director is put on

probation for the next two meetings. Directors can speak for five minutes in their own defence or submit a one-page statement to the board.

UTSU President Joshua Bowman called the increase in attendance from previous years a “step in the right direction,” attributing the increased attendance to the elimination of slates. Writing to The Varsity, Bowman expressed his belief that directors sought their positions outside of the support of a collective slate, and thus “have their own reasons for participating in the UTSU at this level. They are here because they want to be, not because a slate or a Presidential candidate told them to.”

On the enforcement of bylaw 10 and attendance at meetings, Bowman wrote that the policy’s implementation has “been equal parts accountable and empathetic. We encourage elected members to attend all meetings, but understand when life gets in the way.” He also emphasized that meetings are scheduled around the majority of availability among directors, who are “made aware immediately and informed of the procedure” when in danger of contravening the union’s bylaws.

“As a Director last year, I remember a lack of in-

In violation of bylaw 10

Resigned

The UTSU saw an increase in attendance when compared to 2018.

ANDY TAKAGI/THE VARSITY

formation being made available for Board members. We didn’t know what Bylaw X was until it was essentially too late,” wrote Bowman.

Crediting last year’s Vice-President Operations Tyler Biswurm’s attendance formula for clarity in the processes and guidelines of the bylaw, Bowman wrote that directors were informed of the criteria for abandonment of office from the beginning. “I am happy that our attendance is increasing, but I will truly be satisfied when our elections are contested and seats aren’t left vacant.”

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“A 700-year phenomenon”: Before Malcolm X lecture series bridges Black, Islamic, and American history Mustafa Briggs illustrates the historied presence of Black Muslims in the Americas

Ibnul Chowdhury Managing Editor

“When did Islam arrive in the Americas?”

On February 10, UK-based Arabic and international relations scholar Mustafa Briggs asked this question to the Victoria College Chapel audience in framing his new lecture series, Before Malcolm X: The History of Islam in the Americas.

This month, Briggs is touring Canada and the United States with the series, in addition to his previous series, Beyond Bilal: Black History in Islam.

Briggs’ presentation dove into the undertold history of Islam in the Western hemisphere. He sought to challenge the popular narrative that Islam began in the Americas in the 1950s and 1960s, during the era of the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement, with popular figureheads like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. Through his research, which included speaking to U of T graduate alum in West African Islamic history, Abdullah Hakim Quick, he found that the story of Islam in America goes back much further. Muslims, specifically Black ones, have been present in the Americas for hundreds of years.

Briggs pointed to Black Muslim voyagers who, some argue, beat Christopher Columbus to the Americas; enslaved West African figures who “left behind diaries and treatises in perfect Arabic;” and the “Muslim warriors who fought for freedom in South America and The Caribbean before the abolition of slavery.”

The sold-out event was moderated by Imam Yasin Dwyer, and was organized by the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), The Muslim Chaplaincy of Toronto, the Somali Students’ Association, Emmanuel College, and the Women’s Circle.

The MSA executive wrote to The Varsity about organizing the event: “We made a conscious decision to celebrate black history month by inviting Mustafa Briggs to give a talk on aspects of African American History that people normally don’t hear about; his presentation allowed us to bridge Black History Month and Islamic history.”

Islam across the Atlantic Ocean: empowerment and resistance Briggs opened his talk by introducing the theory that there may have been Black Muslim contact — originating from the Mali Empire in West Africa — with the Americas in the fourteenth century, before the arrival of Columbus. He noted that if this theory were true, it made “the presence of Islam here a 700-year old phenomenon.”

He then moved onto the more definite history of the transatlantic slave trade, which enslaved many people from Muslim-majority nations and

Mustafa Briggs seeks to challenge popular narratives about Islam in the Americas in his new lecture series.

COURTESY OF MAEESHA MAHBUB

empires in West Africa. Islam not only underlined the identity of many of these enslaved Africans, but also their resistance.

Discussing how the first slave revolt in the Americas occurred in the Caribbean, Briggs described how, on the island of present-day Haiti, enslaved Wolof Muslims rose up against their Christian enslavers in 1522, over 200 years prior to the famous Haitian revolution of 1791.

Also giving the example of Bahia, Brazil — Briggs noted that South America was a major destination for enslaved Muslim Africans who were empowered and united by the common cultural practices of Islam, which they continued to practice. In 1835, the Muslim population of Bahia took part in the Malê revolt.

Briggs described how, in both the Haitian and Brazilian cases, the authorities “feared that [the enslaved Africans] being Muslim encouraged them to rise against their masters and fight for freedom.” They pursued practices such as forced conversion to Christianity to attempt to control them and “erase the popular memory and affection toward Islam that these people had.”

Briggs also illustrated how the high level of Islamic education that West Africans had received enabled them to pursue remarkable lives, despite their enslavement. He reviewed the famous examples of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, Omar Ibn Said, Yarrow Mamout, and Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori.

“These are just four examples of the stories of thousands and thousands of slaves similar to them, [who] came from families established in learning, and were highly literate and educated individuals,” Briggs remarked.

“These [four] were the first openly practicing Muslims in the USA. So you can see that the his-

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tory of Islam traces back… hundreds of years.”

The twentieth century: the resurgence of Black Islam “Many of these enslaved Muslims travelled to [the Americas] and were persecuted and were not allowed to practice their religion,” noted Briggs. The transatlantic slave trade “was built so that people would forget where they come from and who they were. So when they came to America, they were given new names, they were Christianized.”

“But many silently prayed that their descendants would one day be able to return to their religion and join them in practicing Islam,” he continued. In the twentieth century, many of these prayers were answered, according to Briggs.

He described how Islam re-emerged and spread among African-Americans in the 1900s, which included notable examples like Noble Drew Ali’s Moorish Science Temple of America in the early part of the century; the Nation of Islam, which led to figures like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali; and concurrent orthodox Sunni Muslim movements, such as Shaikh Daoud Faisal’s Islamic Mission of America, which opposed the Nation of Islam’s Black separatist stance in favour of integration.

Returning to the title of his presentation, Briggs closed with the importance of making connections between Islam, Blackness, and the Americas across history. “When we speak about Malcolm X, we shouldn’t just see him as an individual,” Briggs stressed.

“We should see him as someone who represents a legacy and a history that interlinks continents, such as Africa and North America, and the Islamic community of West Africa and North America, for a period of over 700 years.”

A search for identity, Christianity versus Islam, and anti-Blackness When asked about how he gained interest in his scholarship, Briggs reflected on his personal search for his history and identity. He grew up in a Christian Gambian family in the UK, even though most of Gambia and his extended family were Muslim. By contrast, he descended from liberated Africans who had been Christianized.

“When I went back to Gambia, I found out that a lot of my cousins were Muslim. Why were they Muslim, and why were we Christian?” Briggs recalled asking. “This led to me learning about the transatlantic slave trade — about how Islam spread. I felt robbed of the knowledge.” Briggs eventually converted to Islam as a teenager.

When The Varsity asked Briggs to compare the spread of Islam in West Africa and the Christianization of enslaved Africans in the Americas, he pointed to one key distinction: Christianity was used by non-African enslavers to oppress and erase the identities of Africans, while Islam coexisted with, and preserved, West African culture.

“The [West African] leaders converted to Islam, but they didn’t force their people to Islam,” he responded. “In fact, West Africans used Islamic scholarship and the newfound literacy that they had through the Arabic language to preserve their own language, their own culture, and their own religion.”

The Varsity also asked Briggs about the contemporary legacy of anti-Blackness in the Muslim community. “It’s a lived reality that we all know exists, that we’ve all experienced in one way or another,” he responded.

He later discussed how solidarity between Black and non-Black Muslims required tackling the issue of anti-Black racism, and providing Black Muslims with a sense of empowerment and belonging.

Nonetheless, Briggs also expressed some optimism, as his tours suggest that there is interest in addressing anti-Blackness. “I feel with the new generation, things are changing,” he noted. “I never approach [a] university. Universities invite me, because people want to learn and go beyond the horizon.”

The MSA executive wrote to The Varsity: “The MSA recognizes the issue of anti-Blackness within the Muslim community and the effects it has on Black Muslims. It is important to lend our voices to be allies, but not to speak over the experiences of the marginalized, even within our own communities.”

“These prejudices have taken root deeply within all our communities, but it is our collective responsibility to ensure that these prejudices are tackled, regardless of how difficult of a task it may seem.”

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Caribbean graduate students the focus of new Munk MGA scholarship Senior Fellow Connie Carter contributes $100,000 gift to fund award Ibnul Chowdhury Managing Editor

Last November, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Senior Fellow Dr. Connie Carter contributed a $100,000 gift to establish a new scholarship for the Master of Global Affairs (MGA) program at the school.

The annual scholarship, titled the Dr. Connie Carter Global Affairs Award, will recruit and support students from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is a political and economic union composed of 20 nations from the region.

“People from the Caribbean can contribute enormously to a diverse, inclusive, multi-cultural world because that’s our heritage. We are inherently a hybrid people,” Carter wrote to The Varsity.

“But we need relevant skills and opportunities to excel. I established this MGA scholarship to help support this idea in a practical, hands-on way.”

In December, U of T established an endowment fund, in perpetuity, to support the scholarship. It will be awarded starting in the 2020–2021 academic year, provided that a candidate who meets its criteria is found.

Carter reflects on award, Munk School Carter’s professional background includes a globe-trotting business career in Europe, Asia, and North America as a barrister, consultant, and professor, particularly in the areas of international trade and intellectual property law.

As originally reported in a recent Faculty of Arts & Science news article, Carter established the scholarship as a way to celebrate her newly acquired Canadian citizenship. Born in pre-independent Jamaica and educated in the UK, she had only ever carried a British passport before. “But now we have Brexit. Having a Canadian passport helps me preempt whatever idiotic idiosyncracies might be in store for British passport holders living outside of the UK,” Carter noted.

“You could say that getting my Canadian passport is opportunistic,” she reflected. “Nothing wrong with that. Exploiting available options is a key to business and personal success.”

She has similar hopes for the scholarship recipients: “I’d like to think that the MGA scholarship that I’ve created will help encourage students to think out of the box, to be confident that they can navigate obstacles with creativity and purpose.”

“It’s hugely satisfying to think that I might be able to inspire a young person to rise above any pettiness they encounter in a similar way,” she continued. “To challenge the status quo when it seems unreasonable.”

Carter also reflected on how the scholarship was an expression of gratitude for her experience at the Munk School, at a difficult time when she had to become a caretaker for her unwell mother.

“Participating in seminars, conferences, workshops and receptions at the Munk School helped me retain my sanity,” Carter wrote.

“The atmosphere at the Munk School, with its dynamic Asian Institute and inspiring focus on global affairs was more intellectually satisfying than any of the other schools or centres I had experienced in Canada.”

Representation in the MGA program The MGA is a twoyear graduate program that the Munk School describes as positioning “graduates to accelerate their careers in business, government and NGOs, as these sectors pursue their strategies in an interconnected and multipolar world.”

Currently, the MGA program has a two-toone ratio between domestic and international students. While domestic students can more easily access funding, MGA Program Director Mark Manger told The Varsity that “international students face a significant expense coming here.

Toronto is expensive, [and] international tuition is expensive.”

Manger acknowledges that for lower income countries, as is the case for many CARICOM nations, it is more difficult to send students to Canada to acquire a graduate degree. He noted that this financial barrier for international students is typically only surmountable by

“ ” It’s hugely satisfying to think that I might be able to inspire a young person to rise above any pettiness they encounter in a similar way

Dr. Connie Carter, born in Jamaica, created the scholarship to support students from CARICOM. COURTESY OF MAO OUYANG

those who receive significant support from home, such as through government scholarships, or who come from affluent families.

“It’s just not a desirable situation,” Manger reflected. He spoke about the need to better reach and represent international students who face such barriers: “We want this program to provide graduate education to students from elsewhere, who may not have the means to access this.”

Manger also spoke about the value that diverse, global representation can bring to domestic students. “An international student body enriches the experience of the program, as everyone can encounter different perspectives that they otherwise would not have.”

Carter lauds the interdisciplinary character and culture of the Munk School and the MGA program, especially in terms of the space provided for dialogue and debate. Although she has not yet personally seen CARICOM representation at the school, she believes that when Caribbean students do come, they too can benefit from what the program and the school have to offer.

With Carter’s gift, Manger also shares this vision: “our hope is that we will be able to attract more students from Caribbean countries.”

“Beauty democratized”: English major turned entrepreneur

U of T alum Corinne Haddad on launching her own cosmetics line, 1day beauty Haley Sheh Associate Video Editor

Corinne Haddad launched 1day beauty after completing U of T’s e-Commerce and Online Business Management program in 2019.

HALEY SHEH/THE VARSITY

The beauty industry is one of the fastest growing markets in North America, and it’s one that U of T graduate and Toronto native Corinne Haddad entered when she founded 1day beauty, a cosmetics company dedicated to “democratizing” beauty products.

Haddad graduated from U of T with an English degree in 2017. Soon after, she enrolled in postgraduate courses in business and online marketing through U of T, and in 2018, Haddad founded 1day beauty from the comfort of her home.

At the moment 1day beauty primarily sells lip products, but Haddad expressed in an interview with The Varsity that she hopes to expand to other products in the future.

According to Haddad, from product design to retail, running a startup has been a challenging process. She credits her family members for being supportive.

Haddad said that her business can become difficult at times and credits her schooling at U of T for helping her navigate some of the adversities that come with being a founder. “U of T is not an

easy school,” said Haddad. “One thing you learn [after] surviving four years [at] U of T is a strong commitment to what you are doing, so you develop strict self-discipline and you never give up.”

While a major in English may appear unconventional in her line of work, it helped her become more articulate when marketing her products. While at U of T, Haddad also touched on the beauty world, writing product reviews for cosmetics and posting makeup tutorials online.

“Beauty democratized” is a core ideal of 1day beauty, as Haddad believes that everyone should have input on the products they purchase.

Unlike many larger corporations, Haddad takes a more intimate and personal approach with her customers. On Instagram, Haddad encourages followers to reach out for help with shades and products, and takes their responses into consideration when creating products for the customers.

The keywords of 1day beauty products are: “allclusive, clean & cruelty free.” Haddad’s newest design is visual impairment-friendly lipstick packaging. Haddad’s mother is visually impaired,

and Haddad emphasized that this simple packaging change means that a customer can tell the different shades from the Braille on the package.

Right now, 1day beauty is still an e-commerce business.

“I feel so lucky to live in this time [when] we have the internet, [which] is so easy to get access to, and Instagram that is just there [like] a huge free billboard,” she reflected.

Haddad has relied on Instagram largely to promote products and build her business by collecting customer feedback.

Haddad has found that throughout the process she has felt really close to the community.

“Using the communities we’ve built on our social media channels to ask about product names and types, preferred ingredients, and packaging, to name a few [things].”

Haddad continued, “[this] has not only fostered a stronger relationship between us, but has also ensured that we’re always following what people want. The goal is to be as community & consumer-centric as possible.”

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Survivors of sexual violence deserve more from U of T Reporting-focused resources sideline many survivors’ needs and experiences Vanshika Dhawan Varsity Contributor

It took me almost a week to acknowledge that I had experienced an instance of sexual violence.

I attributed my debilitating anxiety, disordered eating, and inability to get out of bed each morning to school stress — after all, halfway through my first term of law school, I was surrounded by peers who were struggling just as much, if not more than I was. I called the U of T Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre (SVPSC) twice to no avail. I emailed, and eventually was able to set up an appointment eight days after my first attempt to contact them.

U of T’s official policy and the inefficiencies in the process of reporting through SVPSC have been rightfully criticized before, as has the pervasiveness of rape culture on this campus — an atmosphere which normalizes sexual violence and places the onus on women to not be assaulted. To try to mitigate these issues, campaigns and training sessions held by the university around sexual violence support and prevention largely centre around understanding consent. But this is not enough. The existing resources are severely inadequate for the realities of sexual violence survivors on this campus.

Counselling services at U of T are overburdened and students have been calling for reform for years. Dedicated counselling for sexual assault survivors — that is later transitioned, if necessary, to off-campus resources — would go a long way to facilitate survivor healing.

When I did meet with the SVPSC and disclosed my case, I was told that it does not offer counselling — which I desperately needed — and that I should return if I wanted to formally report, a process which is often traumatic in and of itself, as it requires survivors to relive their experiences in testimonies to university, police, or medical personnel. Reporting means placing a formal report through either the university or the criminal justice system. This process — which can be invasive and potentially humiliating — does not necessarily lead to consequences, either university-related or criminal, for alleged offenders.

I did not report, and I still haven’t. Mandated policies that centre their reporting processes around survivors conveniently ignore the

myriad of reasons that survivors choose not to report at all. Being shut down while grasping for support because the SVPSC does not provide counselling is an enormous setback for a survivor who is processing their trauma.

People are much more likely to be sexually assaulted by people they know, people they invite into their homes. The reality is that, sometimes, we want to have sex with the people who violate us. Sometimes, otherwise good people who understand consent push our boundaries.

Sometimes, we love the people who hurt us.

For a survivor to say they were violated is not to cast the person who violated them as ‘evil,’ or as a ‘horrible person.’ A survivor may, but the need that others feel to defend people as ‘well-intentioned’ or ‘otherwise good-natured’ is harmful. A person can be both those things and still make a mistake. A person can also be a malicious serial perpetrator. Not all sexual violence is created equal, and we need to stop treating it as such.

especially for young folks who are living away from home for the first time and for students who may not yet have close friends or family in whom they can confide.

We need easily accessible counselling services for U of T students who are survivors to address their unique issues. We need nuanced discussions, training programs, and campaigns about sexual violence that go further than defining terms like sexual violence and consent.

At the very least, we need formal avenues to start talking about what accountability can look like outside of formal reporting procedures via the university and the authorities, especially if we want prevention to include helping people who have violated consent learn from their mistakes and not be repeat offenders.

Reporting and formal accountability have their place, but they won’t help a person heal; you need other resources to do that.

Healing is what leads to students getting back on track and living their best academic potential.

U of T needs to do more, and it needs to do it better, because survivors deserve so much more than what we get from this university.

Vanshika Dhawan is a first-year student at the Faculty of Law. Dhawan has a Masters of Communications from Ryerson University and completed her thesis on sexual assault and survivor discourses.

DARREN CHENG/THE VARSITY

Even when I acknowledged that I had been violated, I could not bring myself to use the word ‘assaulted.’ I could not bring myself to call the person who had violated me an ‘assailant’ or a ‘perpetrator.’ Where does that leave young women, especially first-year students, who are statistically more likely to experience an instance of sexual violence in their first few weeks of university?

These systems are difficult to navigate, and they are especially complicated in the days and weeks after a traumatic incident. Though prevention — for example through educational campaigns about consent — is essential, survivors need to be supported through their healing.

Most importantly, we as a community need to address and dismantle our preconceived notions about sexual violence and trauma. The language we use, and the language that consent campaigns use, continues to focus on reporting and fails to provide alternative avenues for accountability.

I personally struggled for weeks after the fact, even as a previous victim of sexual assault and a longtime advocate for sexual violence prevention on university campuses. As a Toronto resident, I had established medical, professional, and personal support systems. I still struggled with the anxiety of running into the person who assaulted me on campus. I still struggled to determine what accountability would look like in a situation where I could not report to the university or the police. I still struggle with it all, months later. My heart goes out to the survivors on this campus who must process their trauma, navigate these systems, find answers to these questions, and heal largely alone.

Reporting-focused sexual violence prevention policies are just the tip of the iceberg for what survivors need to begin the process of healing — a process that is often lifelong. It is time-consuming, and it is particularly difficult while being a student in a large city —

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you can call: Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 (Toll Free), 1-866-863-7868 (TTY), and 416863-0511 (Toronto) Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse at 1-866-887-0015 Toronto Rape Crisis Centre: Multicultural Women Against Rape at 416-597-8808 Good2Talk Student Helpline at 1-866-9255454 Gerstein Crisis Centre Crisis Line at 416-9295200 U of T Health & Wellness Centre at 416-9788030 Sexual Violence and Prevention Centre at: (416) 978-2266 and svpscentre@utoronto.ca UTSG: Gerstein Science Information Centre (Gerstein Library), Suite B139 UTM: Davis Building, Room 3094 UTSC: Environmental Science & Chemistry Building, EV141.

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FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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Black students aren’t dropping out of schools — they’re being pushed out Systemic racial inequities at play with educational outcomes

Beverly Teng Varsity Staff

“Nobody likes or enjoys oppression; nobody wants to be excluded; nobody wants to be marginalized,” said Dr. George Dei, a U of T scholar at the Department of Social Justice Education, who has been recognized for his pioneering research in anti-racism education and inclusive schooling.

“So when that happens to you, you must know how you feel because everyone knows that. Everybody wants to be acknowledged, validated, legitimized. But also, people want to do that on their own terms — they don’t want somebody else to do it,” he told The Varsity.

Why is it so difficult to have a conversation about race and education? The short answer Dei would tell you is that talking about race inevitably brings up uncomfortable conversations about current and historical oppression and racism.

What is going on in our schools?

A 2017 report from York University compared the high school and postsecondary statistics for Black students in the GTA with their other racialized and white peers. From 2006–2011, the Toronto District School Board documented that 69 per cent of Black students graduated and 20 per cent of Black students dropped out. In comparison, 84 per cent of white students graduated and 87 per cent of other racialized students graduated.

As for dropout rates, only 11 per cent of white students and nine per cent of racialized students dropped out of high schools. From that same cohort, only 25 per cent of Black students were confirmed in Ontario universities compared to 60

per cent for other racialized students and 47 per cent for white students. Additionally, 43 per cent of Black students did not even apply for postsecondary education — this percentage is almost equal to the number of confirmed Black students for Ontario universities and colleges combined.

Systemic issues at play Dei argues that the problem here extends much further than what statistical analysis can offer, and requires critical analysis not only of the low postsecondary enrollment numbers, but of the experiences in school. From the Eurocentric texts that we study in schools, which focus on North American or European culture and largely exclude others, to the lack of proportional racial representation in faculty and student bodies, getting into university is only part of the problem — getting through university is a different challenge altogether.

Toronto is home to the only Africentric school in Canada. Named the Africentric Alternative School, this is an elementary school that opened in 2009 that aims to provide Black students with better educational support through customized curricula, representation, and community building efforts. Dei considers the most important takeaway from the Africentric school to be the need to “centre peoples’ culture and history in their learning,” because history doesn’t just happen. People actively make history by taking action, and it took decades of activism and change to get society to where it is today.

What are the consequences?

By overlooking cultural differences, we create an educational environment that inhibits students’ abilities to not only have a voice, but also to make

Op-ed: The Black Future Lawyers program promotes Black representation in the legal field A program assistant weighs in on the BFL’s equitybased initiatives Stephane Martin Demers Varsity Contributor

On January 15, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law launched its Black Future Lawyers (BFL) program. The main goal of this program is to increase and support Black representation in law schools and the legal profession, and in turn better represent the diversity of the communities in which law is practiced.

This program supports Black undergraduate students who aspire to go to law school and become lawyers through various engagement opportunities. Already, current undergraduate BFL members have had the opportunity to attend a speed mentoring session with Black lawyers working in both public and private practice and attend numerous workshops hosted by U of T Law — including ones with Constitutional Law expert Professor Richard Albert and Crown Counsel Kandia Aird. Other integral activities to the undergraduate BFL program include mentorship opportunities and job shadowing with Black lawyers, judges, and articling students.

Black undergraduates can also look forward to admissions and financial aid information sessions and the second annual Black Future Lawyers Conference to be held on Saturday, February 29.

their voice heard. Nobody wants to enter a hostile space that does not value their contributions.

Representation matters because students need to know that the people they identify with are part of the educational and decision-making processes. Representation matters because students need to know they belong.

Progress is not made by individuals alone: progress is made by communities. While the importance of recognizing the different struggles that different groups face cannot be stressed enough, you can’t “expect the racialized body to teach you about race,” noted Dei. As students, our individual successes are bound to the relationships that we have with our peers.

Just like how our peers contribute to our success, we help promote theirs as well.

Of course, a person’s education is impacted by many factors, including their support networks, their home situations, their financial limits, and their mental health. Dei noted this by saying that “we are in a better place than we used to be.”

Regardless of the efforts that have been made, we cannot risk complacency. The reality is that there is still much more that must be done to create a welcoming environment for many of our peers. Access remains inequitable. Education is one of the basic pillars of society and no one should be pushed out because of their identity.

How do we move forward?

Issues surrounding race and education, such as the high dropout rate of Black students in Toronto, are easy to brush under the rug of a ‘colourblind’ system or get shrugged off in everyday conversation because, “well, it’s not my area of expertise,” said Dei. These excuses are problematic not only because

they ignore the inequities that these students face, but also because those that use them negate their responsibility to educate themselves on racial issues. By opting out of these conversations, we become complicit in covering up the racial injustices that dominate our education systems.

The terms we use to discuss race and education also play an integral role in the division of responsibility, when we do engage in these conversations. Terms such as ‘drop out’ frame the issue so that Black students themselves are blamed for their poor educational experiences. Dei prefers using language such as ‘student disengagement’ and ‘push out’ for a more holistic understanding of the problem. Individual students will have different circumstances, but ultimately, there are systemic inequities that cannot be ignored.

The importance of this conversation cannot be reduced to one month out of the year. While there are many academics like Dei researching the issue, it is not enough to rely on these efforts alone to push the movement forward.

When Black History Month ends, it is our duty to ensure that this conversation does not get tucked away until next February. Our education system is both oppressive and exclusive, but we shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to tell us that. As students, we have the opportunity to support our peers and build up the kind of community that is necessary to advocate for progress.

Whether it’s through supporting more Africentric schools or educating ourselves, we should all make noise to disrupt the status quo that perpetuates marginalization.

Beverly Teng is a third-year Environmental Science and Philosophy student at University College.

The Black Future Lawyers program aims to more equititably support current and aspiring Black law students.

VICTORIA MCCUTCHEON/THE VARSITY

Black undergraduates wishing to apply to U of T Law should also take note of the law school’s Black Student Application Stream (BSAS) opening in 2021. Inspired by the U of T Faculty of Medicine’s Black Student Application Program (BSAP), this stream will allow Black students to submit a personal essay centred on diversity and have their admission file reviewed by members of the Black legal community in addition to regular admission criteria. This will guarantee that the diverse experiences of Black students will be accurately assessed in their applications.

As a BFL program assistant, I have had the opportunity to be an active participant in the launch of this program. I have helped coordinate events at the law school, developed content for the BFL social media pages, provided piano accompaniment for the BFL Launch Party, and most importantly, I’ve assured myself a position on the BFL working group committee.

The primary concern of the working group committee is to bring the issue of Black underrepresentation in law school to the forefront of legal discourse and U of T Law’s admissions strategy.

In attending workshops hosted by U of T Law, last year’s BFL conference, and meetings with the BFL working group committee, it is evident that the law school has a strong desire to rectify the issue of potential discrimination against Black students on law school applications. By ensuring that all applications are assessed in an impartial and unbiased manner, U of T Law believes that the number of Black students entering their law school will increase. As a result, the number of

Black lawyers in society will increase as well.

Why does society need more Black lawyers anyway? Well, an increase in Black lawyers would mean better legal representation for Black people in the criminal system. This is important because traditionally and recently, there has been a disproportionate overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal system without adequate legal representation from lawyers who understand their needs and situation. With more Black lawyers in society, it is possible that more Black people would be kept out of the prison system.

In addition, more well-educated Black lawyers will inspire young Black people to believe that they too have the capacity to become successful lawyers. For a marginalized group that has consistently felt the burden of ‘not being enough,’ this will truly uplift Black youths. This is one of the core values of the BFL program. It would also challenge the idea that law schools are reserved for the elite in society, as they have been for some time.

Breaking down racial barriers is necessary to make previously exclusive institutions accessible to talented students from a wide array of backgrounds. Further, an increase in the number of Black people practicing law would mean the chance for them to offer their unique perspectives leading to new innovations in the law.

In addition to U of T Law, other departments at U of T have been increasing awareness around Black underrepresentation in academia and other pressing issues facing the Black community. For example, early on in 2017, the U of T Faculty of

Medicine launched its BSAP which increased its number of Black students from one to 14 in its first year. Also, the Toronto Black Policy Conference hosted by the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s Urban Policy Lab have both been crucial elements in “fostering conversation about local policy initiatives that affect Toronto’s diverse Black communities.”

Outside of U of T, Black Owned Unity has aimed to support Black businesses and young Black entrepreneurs through their Black Owned Holiday Market in Toronto. The City of Toronto has even come on board to tackle anti-Black racism through the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. The various initiatives throughout the community to raise awareness of the issues Black people face show that U of T Law is not alone in attempting to create a legal profession that is more inclusive and accessible for tomorrow’s Black lawyers. This program is the start of something new and exciting.

For more information on the BFL program, visit us at bfl.law.utoronto.ca, blackfuturelawyers on Facebook and Instagram, and BlackFutureLawr on Twitter.

Stephane Martin Demers is a third-year Classical Piano student at the Faculty of Music. He was elected onto Governing Council as an undergraduate student representative for the professional faculties for the 2020–2021 academic year. He serves as a Black Future Lawyers program assistant.

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Op-ed: How student groups foster inclusivity and equity WRiSC co-presidents on demonstrating difference and celebrating excellence Victoria Barclay and Ali Aghaeinia Varsity Contributors

The Woodsworth Racialized Students’ Collective (WRiSC) was founded in 2018 and intends to serve racialized students by fostering a space where racial injustices can be discussed, both at Woodsworth College and with the general University of Toronto community. Prior to WRiSC’s existence, Woodsworth did not have an organization that specifically focused on advocating for racialized experiences, which was one of many reasons for its creation.

WRiSC is an organization on campus that works toward spotlighting racialized experiences and serving the U of T community through an equity perspective.

This February, WRiSC collaboratively presented its major initiative for this semester. Working with the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), we administered the Realities of U of T campaign followed by an event titled Inequality Examined, Discrimination Discovered, Privilege Present. On February 11 at Hart House, students exhibited their work that fell under the broad category of social inequality.

The objective of the Realities of U of T campaign is to render visible experiences of racism, and other forms of discrimination, that U of T students have encountered throughout their lives — either during their time at U of T or prior to their enrollment. As a second component of the campaign, we wanted to inform students of mental health resources that are available, in case they may need them as a result of racism, or for an alternative reason. Thus, each of our posts included the link to the UTSU’s mental health resources list on their website.

Although our club is focused on spotlighting

the racialized experiences, we want to promote and emphasize intersectionality, and we always invite students to share experiences they may have had based on multiple dimensions of their identity. We worked with the UTSU to provide a platform for students to share their work — such as academic papers, artworks, and short stories — through our exhibit at Hart House on February 11.

We strongly believe that there is not enough emphasis on the work students produce as a contribution to the dismantling of colonialism and other societal structures that negatively impact marginalized communities. There are some students on this campus whose classes and coursework do not even discuss the ways that societal structures affect populations in different ways. We believe that every student, and every individual, should have the opportunity to learn about perspectives that may differ from their own.

Moving forward, WRiSC hopes to increase its presence at Woodsworth, and the wider campus, through collaborative events targeted at the student body. For any students who are interested in attending our events, we recommend liking our Facebook page, “/wrisc,” and following us on Instagram at “@ wrisc_uoft,” as these are our main platforms of information. Students who would like to get involved with the club can email wrisc@mywcsa.com and stay tuned for more information regarding our upcoming annual general meeting and elections.

Victoria Barclay is a fourth-year Sociology, Political Science and Equity Studies student at Woodsworth College.

Ali Aghaeinia is a fourth-year Criminology, Ethics, Society & Law, and Sociology student at Woodsworth College.

Barclay and Aghaeinia are co-presidents of the Woodsworth Racialized Students’ Collective.

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10

Editorial

February 24, 2020 var.st/comment editorial@thevarsity.ca

The Varsity stands in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders Violations of sovereignty undermine Canada’s commitment to reconciliation

Canada-wide protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

COURTESY OF EMILY FAGAN/THE MARTLET

The Varsity Editorial Board

In the early hours of February 6, armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers entered Wet’suwet’en land defender camps with orders to arrest and remove protestors who remained in defiance of a court injunction to evacuate the area for the development of a Coastal GasLink pipeline. These actions mirrored similar raids conducted last year on the very same land.

According to land defenders and reporters, the raid was aggressive, with officers violently apprehending protestors, as well as threatening journalists and attempting to prevent them from photographing or filming the raid.

The Varsity stands in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders and condones the undemocratic silencing of journalists as an infringement upon news organizations’ ability to keep Canadian institutions accountable. These very actions are evidence of the insidious and aggressive nature of the raid.

Since the publication of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls last June, the Trudeau government has only just begun serious efforts to bring action and justice to Indigenous communities, days after calling for an end to the land defenders’ blockades.

Many who protest the RCMP’s most recent actions see it as an act of national aggression, with Canada invading the sovereign, unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en. These include students at the University of Toronto, who have been participants in the nation-wide protests against the RCMP’s actions. These protests have resulted in the mass blockade of transit systems throughout Canada.

While some Indigenous leaders do support the pipeline for mainly economic reasons, what must be emphasized and take precedence is that the hereditary chiefs of the five Wet’suwet’en clans are the ultimate authority in the unceded Wet’suwet’en territories.

In this instance, it is members of the Elected Band Council, not the hereditary chiefs, who have voiced their support for the pipeline. The elected band councils are themselves remnants of colonialism, having been created under the Indian Act, a racist piece of legislation that governs Indigenous lives. However, according to virtually all reports, all the hereditary chiefs, whose titles predate colonization, oppose the pipeline.

Additionally, the Supreme Court of Canada’s

1997 Delgamuukw v British Columbia decision affirmed under Canadian law that the hereditary chiefs had a right to land and governance of the Wet’suwet’en territories.

Unis’tot’en land was specifically infringed upon during the raid. The Unis’tot’en are a clan within the Wet’suwet’en and the “original Wet’suwet’en Yintah Wewat Zenli distinct to the lands of the Wet’suwet’en,” on whose land this pipeline is proposed to pass through and whose people are fighting for command of their culture and community.

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have given Coastal GasLink an alternative route through their territory, which does not impact important grounds. Yet Coastal GasLink, with the support of the RCMP and provincial courts, has made it clear that respect is merely an obligatory measure.

It is the belief of The Varsity that the sovereignty of the Wet’suwet’en people must be recognized, and that the RCMP’s intrusion onto unceded land was and is an act of aggression that must be understood as such. The hereditary chiefs are the legitimate authority in these territories, and their opposition to the pipeline is the only opinion that should have legal weight.

The Association of First Nations National Chief Statement on Wet’suwet’en Nation notes, “As it stands, the RCMP is only sworn to uphold civil law and common law. If we are to move forward with reconciliation, Canada must also recognize First Nations laws.”

Canada has a long history of adopting alternative legal systems, like Québec’s French civil law. In an interview with TVO, Daum Shanks, a law professor and Métis academic, discussed the general acceptance of Indigenous law on a case-by-case basis in the Canadian legal system.

He emphasized the dominance of Canadian law over Indigenous law, two systems which are not particularly different, but with Indigenous law focused on “taking care of the space you’re located.” Shanks emphasized the need to see this conflict as similar to one between two premiers who are facing a legal disagreement.

In an interview with CTV, Kim Stanton, a lawyer who specializes in Indigenous law explained, “We’re in a situation where Canada and B.C. assume that they have jurisdiction, when in fact, they never legally got it.”

Shanks is focused on the legal system and the means by which we can further incorporate a

general understanding of the implementation of Indigenous law. However, the issue still stands that Indigenous law, in this instance, was not adhered to or recognized.

Until Canadian governments accept the authority of Indigenous law on sovereign, unceded territory, reconciliation efforts remain insincere and without respect for self-governance and tradition.

The inconvenienced student While it might be easy to reduce this into a faraway conflict that does not concern Torontonians and U of T students, it would be remiss to ignore the far-reaching effects of the Wet’suwet’en land defenders’ actions. This is not just an issue of one swathe of land, but one that regards the continued obstruction of Indigenous sovereignty in Canada.

To those who bemoan transit delays, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, understand that these nationwide protests have resulted in responses from a government that resorted to violence rather than dialogue.

Trudeau’s call for an end to the blockade places the onus on Indigenous leaders to further cooperate with the Canadian government, despite the fact that the RCMP’s presence continues to be felt on Wet’suwet’en territory. Even though they proposed to move to a nearby town, the RCMP officers remain poised to act, and that aggression cannot be ignored.

The Varsity is disappointed in Trudeau’s callous comments and disregard for the power imbalances which continue to motivate these land defenders. Let it be noted that the RCMP made the first act of aggression, and for our prime minister to ask peaceful land defenders to end their assembly just because their actions have forced the government into negotiations represents a gross misunderstanding of these protests.

The Wet’suwet’en have been forced from their land and are subject to centuries of institutional violence in a nation that refuses to recognize their sovereignty.

North American colonialism began with the acquisition of land and resulted in the destruction and genocide of thousands of Indigenous cultures, languages, and communities. The Varsity is calling on Canadians to remember this history, so that we can stop ourselves and our institutions from repeating it.

Institutional support: U of T’s role in these protests We are privileged to receive our education on stolen land at an institution that is still complicit in colonialism. This can be seen through its involvement with the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA)’s Thirty Meter Telescope project, which sits atop Mauna Kea, a sacred site for Kānaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiian.

Despite student and faculty opposition, the university has not taken any steps to divest from this project, issuing a vague statement which noted its responsibility to truth and reconciliation and consultation with Indigenous groups.

However, in this instance, the Kānaka Maoli did make their resistance known to ACURA through their protests; it was the university that failed to act on this knowledge.

The Varsity commends the faculty and students of the Department of Geography & Planning for publishing a letter of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nations, which outlines calls for federal and provincial action with respect to sovereignty and human rights as outlined by the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The University of Toronto sits on stolen land — this is the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. While faculties, administration, and student groups at times read land acknowledgements at the beginning of lectures, events, and ceremonies, it is not enough to simply remember the past. The Varsity emphasizes the importance of advocacy in this moment where the Wet’suwet’en people are under threat and whose land is under seizure from a nation that ignores their ownership of their land.

The Varsity hopes that the university does not make the same mistake again. Stealing land is not something of the past, and the university must reinforce its commitment to reconciliation and justice for Indigenous peoples through explicit support for student and faculty activism.

Reading a land acknowledgement means nothing if you haven’t acted upon your promises.

The Varsity’s editorial board is elected by the masthead at the beginning of each semester. For more information about the editorial policy, email editorial@thevarsity.ca.

12

THE VARSITY

FEATURES

From the Ward to Little Jamaica: ho

Gentrification is era

Writer: Karel Peters Photographers: Tom Kuhn and Samantha Yao

Blackness does not exist in a single form. Our experiences differ depending on our upbringing, religion, socioeconomic class, and numerous other factors. One way that these differences in culture arose was as a result of the patterns of Black settlement across Canada’s vast geographical area, developing various Creole cultures and societies.

Dr. Delia Douglas, an instructor at the University of British Columbia, draws on the importance of paying attention to the relationship between geography and Blackness in Canada, and “understanding how past and present exclusions influence the conditions of belonging for Black bodies and Black communities.”

According to the 2016 Census, approximately 3.5 per cent of Canadians identify as Black. And in honour of Black History Month, I want to acknowledge the contributions that Black people have made to the city of Toronto — contributions that have been and continue to be systematically erased through the capitalist practice of gentrification.

Then and now: St. John’s Ward and Nathan Phillips Square When I think of the past, the pioneers of Black Canada, I think of St. John’s Ward. It’s hard to imagine now, but in the early 1840s, Toronto had a population of approximately 47,000 people.

St. John’s Ward, more commonly known as “the Ward,” is typically considered to be Toronto’s first multicultural and multiethnic area. Its modern boundaries consisted of what is now referred to as Toronto’s downtown core, having been concentrated between University Avenue, College Street, Yonge Street, and Queen Street West. The Ward was home to approximately 11,600 people: Irish citizens escaping the potato famine, Jews fleeing persecution in Europe, Italian labourers, and Chinese immigrants.

What most people are unaware of is that the people who started this community of immigrants in the Ward were free Black individuals and runaway enslaved Black people from the United States.

The 1856 and 1861 censuses found that roughly one thousand Black people were living in Toronto, with half of this population residing in the southern area of the Ward. For them, this space was more than just a geographical Black community; it was the centre of Black culture as well. A Black debate society met every Monday evening at 120 Yonge Street. The African Methodist Church was a centre of the community and spiritual life. There were shoemakers, taverns, and Black-run businesses.

The Ward and its high immigrant population was primarily transformed by the introduction of the subway system in 1954. This rich history was physically erased through the process of gentrification and ideologies of renovating and improving ‘run-down’ or ‘ghetto’ neighbourhoods inhabited by low-income earners in order to attract an influx of wealthy earners into the area.

As the urbanization of the downtown core began, working-class immigrants were pushed out of the Ward. Originally a neighbourhood for racialized people and low-income earners, Toronto developed the area into some of the most expensive real estate in Canada.

Now, the Ward houses Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto City Hall, and countless condominiums.

Nevertheless, you can find little remnants sprinkled about of what it once was. There are several plaques in and around the area of the Ward which were installed by Heritage Toronto to acknowledge the influence of the Black community. These plaques commemorate the African Methodist Church, Albert Jackson, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and St. Lawrence Hall.

Furthermore, as part of their Myseum on the Move program, the Myseum of Toronto strives to keep the history of the Ward alive through their Women of the Ward Tour, which was created in 2019. Through theatrical presentations and animated speech, the walking tour is meant to explore Toronto’s first immigrant neighbourhood and unveil a part of Toronto’s history that often goes unnoticed.

During the tour through what used to consist of the Ward, participants encounter the experience of four resilient women from the Chinese, Jewish, Irish, and Black communities whose stories contribute to the history of the former neighbourhood. The dramatization of Cecelia Jane Reynolds’ life tells her story of joining the Black community in Toronto after escaping slavery in the United States. Written by Audrey Dwyer and performed by Meghan Swaby, the monologue describes her ongoing correspondence with her former owner as she attempts to obtain freedom for her mother and brother.

“I am not the worst child on God’s green Earth,” the monologue says from Reynolds’ perspective. “I came up here with barely the moon to light my way.”

“

the peop starte commu immigran Ward were individu runaway Black peop United

features@thevarsity.ca

ow Black people made Toronto

asing the city’s roots Little Jamaica and me In recent years, the iconic neighbourhood of Toronto’s Eglinton West, also known as Little Jamaica, has been run over with the construction of the Eglinton Light Rail Line (LRT). As real estate prices have skyrocketed, the displacement of businesses and residents can visually be observed within the area.

The history of Little Jamaica is rich. During the ’70s and ’80s, close to 100,000 Jamaican immigrants came to Canada, and many of them settled in Toronto, specifically the area around Eglinton Avenue West and Oakwood Avenue.

My dad is one of those immigrants, having chosen to settle down in Cambridge, Ontario, about an hour and a half outside of Toronto. I remember him telling me about the first time he went to Little Jamaica, and how it felt just like home. Since there were no West Indian barbers in Cambridge, he would head down to Eglinton on the weekends for a haircut, get the oxtail with rice and pea lunch special at Spence’s Bakery, and stop by the King Culture record store before heading home.

“If you wanted to find someone you haven’t seen in a while, go there on a Saturday, and you’d find them,” he once said.

On weekends, Eglinton was the place to be. The streets were always busy and filled with people from the Caribbean diaspora walking to the various Black immigrant-owned shops and restaurants. The community was filled with not only those from Toronto but with people like my dad, who lived outside of the GTA and yearned for a sense of belonging.

Growing up, my dad would take me to Little Jamaica alongside him as he continued his Saturday tradition. I recall the sights, sounds, and smells of our adventures: the charcoal smoking from drums cooking jerk chicken, friendly exchanges of Patwah — also known as Jamaican Patois — between folks on the street, and the vibrant yellow, green, and black flags proudly representing our nation.

ple who ed this unity of nts in the free Black uals and enslaved ple from the States

”

No trip was complete without stopping at Randy’s Patties, which is now called Randy’s TakeOut. The ladies behind the counter who watched me grow up had felt like my aunties. After grabbing our usual, which was a piece of freshly baked coco bread, a chicken patty, and an ice-cold D&G Kola Champagne soda, we would head to the nearby beauty supply store, Monica’s Beauty Salon & Cosmetic. I would pick up hair products for my mom, the ones that you could only get in Toronto, while my dad chatted with the man selling Jamaican DVDs and CDs at the corner.

Today, only a small fraction of this neighbourhood remains. The city has made some attempts to preserve the historically Black space with the creation of Reggae Lane and a commissioned mural which runs east of Oakwood Avenue, behind a strip of buildings on the south side of Eglinton Avenue.

The construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will run along Eglinton Avenue between Mount Dennis and Kennedy station. The line is slated to have up to 25 stations and stops. In response, Black-owned businesses have become empty storefronts looking for new renters who can afford their high prices.

I can see the past being repeated in the present.

To understand how Canada became one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, we need to look to the histories of the Ward and Little Jamaica to gain a clearer understanding of how the contributions of Black Canadians in the past have shaped the present.

After all, when I reflect on the pioneers of Black Toronto in St. John’s Ward and the gentrification that soon followed, it saddens me to think that future generations may never know Little Jamaica. Just as the Ward was home to more than only Black people, Eglinton is more than just an area for the Jamaican and West Indian community. It’s a space where we can gather as a collective; it’s a place where we can feel celebrated.

Arts & Culture

February 24, 2020 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Overlooked: Bamboozled — Spike Lee’s “satire about a failed satire” A critique of Black racial stereotypes Stuti Roy Varsity Contributor

In 1604, Mephistopheles, a devil acting as Lucifer’s messenger, tricked the educated and wellmeaning Doctor Faustus into selling his soul in exchange for endless power and — little did he know — eternal damnation. While Christopher Marlowe’s classic morality tale was about the tragedy of turning one’s back on God, Spike Lee’s Bamboozled addresses the morality of turning one’s back on oneself.

When asked why he chose to showcase this film at the Toronto Black Film Festival this year, Lee said that it encapsulated the fundamental question embedded within all of his works: “is your soul for sale?” Following a pause, he added, “and if so, at what price are you willing to sell it?”

Bamboozled is Spike Lee’s turn-of-the-millennium satire about a Black television executive, Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) who creates a reincarnation of the wildly racist minstrel shows — which were nineteenth century theatre shows built on the comic enactment of Black racial stereotypes — in order to get himself fired. This was done with the aim of exposing his network for its bigotry. His plan failed miserably as the show turned out to be a massive hit, drawing in ardent fans who unironically relished in the degrading stereotypes of the minstrel show.

Delacroix hires a homeless tap dancer, Manray, and his friend, Womack, to be the central characters in his show. The two men agree to take up the roles, which would require them to don blackface, seeing it as an opportunity to make money and survive. Lee specifically referred to them as the “casualties of capitalism” stating that these are the people who “wear the burden of the past” on their face. The types of people who, in poverty, are left with no choice but to sell out.

STUTI ROY/THE VARSITY

Delacroix eventually caves into the show’s newfound popularity, celebrating his success and defending the satirical nature of the show. As the story progresses, the characters are haunted by what they have done, and in the process of defending their decisions, they all spiral into their own crises of identity.

Characteristically of Lee, the film ends with an explosion of violence, which exposes the hazy juncture at which the abandoned stereotypes of the minstrel show meet institutionalized racism.

Lee dedicated a large amount of screentime to the process of putting on makeup in the dressing room. Before every show, the camera focuses on the ritualization of the the application of blackface. Lee painstakingly documents every aspect of it: lighting the cork, watching it melt into a thick black paste, the spoon mixing it in, the sponge dipped into the paste and smeared onto a face looking in the mirror. This scene repeats itself before every performance, and each time the actors are burdened more than the last. The hand applying the makeup is less steady, and the face that bears the mask is worn out. One scene sees Womack applying blackface, covering up his tears.

The strangeness of the film lies in the fact that Lee made a satire about a failed satire. In fact, the film begins by defining satire as “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.” Bamboozled clarifies that satire can only be called such if it is successful. That is, its ridicule and criticism must be understood by the audience.

While Delacroix ceaselessly defends his show as satirical, its irony is lost, not just on the viewing public, but on the television executives and writers producing it. The success of his blatantly racist show lies in unearthing the American consumer’s craving for the very caricatures that were thought

to have been shut out and left in the past.

At the heart of it, Lee examines the complicated relationship between race and popular culture in our capitalist society. The difficulty faced by creatives like Delacroix is that, unable to produce the stories they want, they are forced to ‘give the audience what they want’ by making compromises in order to be commercially viable. It is a problem strongly mirrored in Lee’s decades-long career. His unwillingness to back down from controversial material or alter his abrasive and confrontational style has led to him not only being underappreciated and misunderstood, but also unable to gather funds for his films despite his successes.

Delacroix sold out the moment he struck his Faustian bargain by succumbing to the pressure of executives, making a compromise. Most crucially, he sells out by lying to himself: maintaining that the show is merely satirical and not a further degradation of his race, sold as entertainment.

Thus, he fell victim to an industry bent toward corrupting truths and ideals.

This is exactly what Lee himself has relentlessly tried to avoid. In 1990, the year Driving Miss Daisy, widely regarded as having pandered to white America, won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Spike Lee’s groundbreaking film Do the Right Thing was largely snubbed.

At the end of his interview at the festival, while explaining the importance of his work and why he does what he does despite being, at times, overlooked, he wanted to draw attention to the words of James Baldwin, quoted at the end of the film: “People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become.

And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.”

Would this Brazilian butt lift make my ass look fat?

Attacking the urge for cosmetic surgery in a world wanting to be more plastic Charlie Jupp-Adams Varsity Contributor

I contorted my naked body to get the best possible view of my ass in the mirror. How was it simultaneously too flat and too jiggly? I sat back down on my bed and continued to watch a beauty guru vlog about her experience of getting a Brazilian butt lift from a Toronto plastic surgeon — a surgeon whose clinic is just up the street from my house.

The procedure removes fat from the waist and redistributed it to the hips, thighs, and buttocks, giving a person a more pronounced hourglassshaped figure.

Growing up, cosmetic surgery felt like a Beverly Hills thing. It was what celebrity gossip magazines and trashy tabloids like TMZ made fun of celebrities for. Us Weekly detailed the latest about Ashlee Simpson’s nose job and Victoria Beckham’s breast augmentation, which she denied until a few years ago. It was not until Heidi Montag’s infamous 10-procedures-in-one-day People Magazine cover that I saw a woman being upfront about her cosmetic procedures. And no wonder — media outlets bullied these women mercilessly for supposedly being shallow while simultaneously bullying them mercilessly for supposedly being ugly.

The conversation surrounding plastic surgery has shifted since the mid-2000s. While Twitter users and gossip blogs will still find ways to tear women down, popular opinion has swayed in favour of cosmetic surgery. This is particularly true for young women. Over one million Americans under the age of 29 underwent a cosmetic procedure in 2018, and physicians say that they’ve

noticed an increase in young women receiving treatments.

It’s not exactly clear why this is, though doctors have some ideas. First, many of the less invasive treatments, such as Botox, are done preventively.

Alongside investment in Olay’s Anti-Wrinkle cream, millenial women will inject fillers into their foreheads and around their eyes to prevent their face from creasing in the first place.

Another reason for the increase is social media’s influence on our body image. Snapchat filters and apps like Facetune make it easy to morph your face to be smaller, your skin to be smoother, and your eyes and lips to be bigger. No one is immune to shaping their boobs and slimming their waist — even Beyoncé has been called out for it.

Face tuning often goes unnoticed, but has massive effects on the self-esteem of the audience. It’s not the case that everyone has perfect skin; what is the case is near universal access to smartphones.

We’re all editing ourselves, but we don’t think of others as doing the same. Especially not Beyoncé.

Not only that, but more people are opening up about their own cosmetic procedures. The pressure for online vloggers to be authentic means that many beauty gurus discuss their experiences with lip fillers, rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and of course, the Brazilian butt lift. They make it seem normal. Everyone is filling their lips. Loads of girls get nose jobs. People I admire are going under the knife to change the shape of their bodies.

I scrolled to the comments of the Brazilian butt-lift vlog. They were all positive, things like: ‘Omg, u look amazing,’ and ‘YAS our girl’s looking thicc.’ The commenters were right: the vlogger did look good.

I opened Google Chrome: “How much is butt lift.” According to the search results, just over $4,000. I allowed the thought to roll around in my brain for a minute, and went back to the mirror. My hands pulled the fat around my waist toward my back to make it smaller, and I squinted my eyes. I couldn’t afford it now, but maybe in a couple of years. I turned around and lifted my butt, but wasn’t able to tell what it would look like bigger.

Going back to my computer, I looked up Brazilian butt lifts in Toronto, and saw an article from The Toronto Sun: “Woman dies undergoing ‘Brazilian butt lift.’”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no subscriber to the Sun, but I read the story. The 29-yearold had seemingly gone to a legitimate surgeon in Florida, and then just died.

I’m not willing to risk death for a fatter ass, but according to the num-

bers, millions of women are. In the age of quick fixes on Facetune and Instagram, it’s easy to forget that these cosmetic procedures aren’t just cosmetic; they’re medical, and they’re not without risks. Death is the worst-case scenario, but side effects range from infection to rejection of the fat or implant, to permanent paralysis. For now, I’ll save my four grand and appreciate the fact that my body is alive.

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

var.st/arts

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

15

Who taught us to hate ourselves?

Hyper-visible and invisible: racialized people are constantly striving to be something they’re not Emily Hurmizi Varsity Staff

If the path of time never stops — if it is an eternal arrow moving toward infinity — when do we become ourselves and how can we lose ourselves?

What have we lost?

It was years into a process of bleaching and starving myself that I realized that I was actually trying to erase my identity out of a deepseated hatred for my own cultural heritage. I hated the way that I naturally looked, the dark hair and eyes, the curvier body, and the pronounced, bumpy nose. I wanted to resemble the image of an ideal, but such an ideal was so far removed from reality that I just perpetuated racism against myself until I broke.

In each person, there is the voice of society telling us right from wrong. This mechanism is important for the formative development of our sense of morality, abstract thinking, and even the notion of the self. Yet, it is clear that the society around us is systematically racist, and thus might teach you to believe that you are wrong because of the colour of your skin, ethnicity, or citizenship. From a young age, we are immersed in a world that internalizes and reinforces racism, as well as other forms of discrimination, through social conventions and expectations.

It is impossible to conceive a self that is not laden with pre-existing worldviews, and that means that you know the dynamic of superiority and inferiority as early as you are socialized.

For those from marginalized communities, our personal history has always been marked by this looming internalized racism, to the extent that there is no specific moment where we lost ourselves but it is rather that we were always taught not to find ourselves.

Internalized racism, in my experience, is more than accepting and supporting racial hierarchies.

You are dealing with self-loathing, which reflects how society perceives you because of your race. It is simultaneously a social and psychological issue.

It reaches the core of who you are, and affects how you think about and see the world around you, especially in reference to people from your own racial or cultural background.

In multicultural societies there are politics of recognition — the idea that recognition is an essential pre-condition for forming a personal or group identity. This means that for marginalized people to forge a place against dominant groups, they must have interest in their identity being recognized.

Internalized racism is a tool for assimilation because it creates negative psychological effects during racial identity development. We reduce ourselves, erase ourselves, and lose ourselves.

It is only in this way that the conflict between marginalized and non-marginalized groups for recognition — and hence power — can ever be resolved. If we come to oppress ourselves and our people, then the power dynamics that are inherently interlaced with racism will continue. Internalized racism turns the politics of recognition around, so as to make marginalized racial groups ‘recognize’ their own ‘inferiority.’

As a racialized person, I now know far too intimately how internalized racism manifests in different aspects of and times in our lives. I wish I would have known that not wanting to speak my parents’ languages, to tell people my full ethnicity, or to bring traditional foods to school as a child was indicative of a far-reaching battle that I would have with myself later in life.

The bulk of my internalized racism presents itself in feeling ugly from the outside inward. But there is no reasoning for a girl without any sense of self-worth. Every pound that I lost ripped at me in ways different than gaining weight ever could. The smaller that I became, the more beautiful I felt, and the less secure I was about my place in this world.

Still I kept pushing myself to fit a mould that I was not biologically constructed to fit. I saw a flat stomach and lack of breasts as a sign that I was finally reaching a threshold of what was appealing to others, and only because I thought that to be white, stick-figured, no-workout type of person was the most attractive. I didn’t really have any examples to tell me something different.

Now, as I’ve somewhat moved away from that rigidness and anxiety, I can realize the self-worth I lacked. People tell me that I look a lot healthier.

But I don’t think that I’ve actually released any of that self-hatred. I’ve just come to understand its presence in my life, which mitigates the irrationality in some ways.

I certainly have not risen past my internalized racism; I had a mental breakdown last winter, crying and screaming because I no longer looked the way I wanted. Even if I was not visibly different, I felt substandard and unappealing. My entire self-worth is tied up in the way that I view myself, and I view myself as the other.

Internalized racism is the trap of all traps: it lets racialized people self-destruct. It should not be separated from historical policies that aimed at the assimilation and oppression of different races, but instead should be seen as the next manifestation of colonial relationships.

And yet because this revised form of racial discrimination takes place on the psychological level, it will require a moment when one can establish racial equality within oneself in order to be ameliorated. How is that possible when spiralling in a timeless void of anxiety and mental trauma? Is it even possible if racism is moulded into one’s psyche from the beginning? I don’t feel like it is. I am so far down the rabbit hole that, even though I support the need for radical equality between social groups and despise the unjust lack thereof, I can’t separate my own mental well-being from those social facts. The mind is unreasonable. It won’t enter into negotiations.

When I started university, I was bleachblonde, frail, and hateful toward myself. Although time has kept moving onward and I have grown into new dimensions, I feel the internalized racial hierarchies moving on a continuum within me and can only hope that they won’t be there forever.

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

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ARTS & CULTURE

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Sometimes, it is Black and white: navigating interracial relationships

Bright lights, big city baby!

A small-town student’s take on Toronto’s unidentifiable identity

Learning to balance love while acknowledging differences

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

Riel Flack Varsity Contributor

Do you remember the scene that went viral from This Is Us — when Kevin’s Black girlfriend, Zoe, became upset with him because he forgot to bring her silk pillowcase, and he had no idea why?

Or recently when the internet went into a frenzy after seeing G-Eazy suck the Fenty foundation off Megan Thee Stallion’s face? Seriously, what in the ‘caucacity’ was that?

Maybe you recall when the entire universe needed so badly for Kevin Costner and the late Whitney Houston to imitate their on-screen romance off-screen? These are all examples of how interracial fraternization is represented in popular culture — whether we support them or not.

Personally, I am the product of a 25-year interracial marriage between my white Canadian father and my Black Jamaican-Canadian mother.

I would characterize it as a generally happy marriage, aside from when my Black mother is running late — I’m sorry, but Island time is a real epidemic — or when my white father turns the temperature down to an ungodly 14 degrees Celsius in the middle of winter.

I’ve grown up in a family in which it’s a requirement to tease and make fun of each other’s ethnic quirks, but in a way that isn’t insulting. That comfort with each other allows for open communication and limits the potential for a culturally ignorant environment. Luckily, my parents have been surrounded by and thus have immersed me in diverse communities, so cultural ignorance has never been a factor in my upbringing.

My parents come from completely different backgrounds, yet they have managed to create a balanced environment where we are all able to benefit from and enjoy each other’s cultural traditions. The best example of this cultural balance would be Christmas Day. In the morning, it’s a Jamaican brunch with my mother’s side of the family, the spread including escovitch snappers, jerk pork, fried plantain — pronounced “plantIN,” not “plan-tAIN” — breadfruit, boiled banana, callaloo, bammy, and ackee and saltfish.

After a much needed food-coma nap, we head over to my father’s side of the family for a classic Canadian Christmas feast filled with turkey and sweet potato mash — with roasted marshmallows on top. Yes, the whiteness jumps out of all the fixings. Christmas is just one example of the many ways I am fortunate enough to

be able to experience cultures from both sides of my family, who are equally accepting of each other’s values and traditions.

My parents aren’t the only couple in my family channelling Zoe Saldana and Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who, since my Black Jamaican-Canadian great-aunt and white British great-uncle do as well. Think Prince Harry and Meghan Markle minus the Megxit — my aunt and uncle were not pushed to go back to Canada from England.

Rather, they have established a content life in England with a beautiful home and loving family. I asked my aunt how she and my uncle have been able to maintain a successful relationship, given their different backgrounds. She said that the main things to maintain are respect and communication. Love is fleeting, but respect is vital and communication is necessary. Everyone always thinks they’re right, so they have these little prejudices toward other cultures. However, if you have respect for each other’s views, then the culture question becomes palatable. You can communicate and begin to understand each other’s way of doing and saying things.

I can recall my own experience with an overly tall white boy. He said to me, “Wow, this is my first time being with a Black girl.” My first thought was, “And? Do you want a trophy?” Yet I suppressed my anger because that’s what Black women are supposed to do in the presence of a white man, right? Needless to say, that night fizzled, as did his chances.

Racialized people do not exist for others’ fetishization. We are not something that you can obsessively fantasize over and conquer. Neither do Black people exist for the sole purpose of creating light-skinned babies as accessories with ‘good’ hair and light eyes just so you can up your Instagram clout. If you have talked or even thought about dating only people from a specific race, that’s fetishization coupled with a racial microaggression, and it’s entirely problematic.

It’s demoralizing. Yes, white people who have an ethnic ‘type’ — I am speaking to you. And to the racialized people who seek out the white saviour partners for the benefit of cultural and financial status, that’s an equally damaging process.

Interracial relationships are valid and enriching, but if you find yourself in one it should be for the right reasons.

Little town, big dreams.

KASHI SYAL/ THE VARSITY

Megan Brearley Deputy Senior Copy Editor

I come from a small town of roughly 3,000 people. We had exactly one gas station, and it closed at precisely 8:00 pm.

Toronto was probably the first city I visited — I was, of course, that gleamy-eyed 14-year-old staring out the school bus window, excited to see the Eaton Centre. When I moved here years later, I’d been to more places and seen more things, but moving here still hit me like a kick in the face.

The city brought good food and public transit, sure, but what struck me the most was the culture — more specifically, the sheer abundance of it.

Over the last year, I’ve done some travelling — an attempt to make up for the years I spent at home, driving down random country roads without a destination in mind. I went backpacking in Europe during the summer, visited Prague, Vienna, Paris, and London. A few months ago, I visited Vancouver for the first time.

Everywhere I’ve been, there’s always one overwhelming impression that you take back with you. Neighbourhoods vary, but they all unite under one theme. Vienna was modern, yet artistically dressed in rich architecture and remnants of the empire that once thrived within it. New York City seemed to shape itself around the hustle — the idea of making something of yourself.

Of course, I’ve only been to each of these places for a couple of days a piece — maybe I’m wrong; maybe I’m too far outside to really understand them. But I never got these glimpses, these twosecond first impressions from Toronto. Rather, I’ve been here almost three years, and I still can’t seem to pinpoint any one aspect or idea of it.

This is common of course — people always talk about how Toronto’s culture is hard to pinpoint.

In a city as diverse as this, the air changes with the street, the neighbourhood. I think trying to grasp — or maybe explain — the culture of any city is probably difficult; it all depends on your point of view, opinion, and experiences. But Toronto is its own creature in the way that it doesn’t have just one feel or central theme. Instead, it incorporates many that unite to create a mosaic.

It would be easy enough to compare Toronto culture to my own small-town experience back home. I’d been almost nowhere when I came here. The entire experience felt so strange — gone were the warm smiles of passersby on the street.

Instead, we sit in silence on the subway and avoid

eye contact like the plague. It took me a while to realize that Toronto is still infused with that same Canadian kindness that I grew up with, but that it just manifests differently. It seeps out in heeded warnings to avoid toilet paper-less bathroom stalls and instinctive hands that reach out to steady me as I almost fall on my ass on the TTC. But I don’t think that this is necessarily a Toronto difference; rather, it is the difference between the country and the city — or Canadian city one at least. But nevertheless, they still shape the Torontonian.

Even though I came to Toronto after having grown up close by, what hit me the most was the diversity of the city.

Way back in 2003, The Globe and Mail named Toronto the most ethnically diverse city in North America, and this title has been unofficially circulating the internet and the public realm ever since.

Even now, more than a decade later and with no current statistics, people still think of it as such — and why wouldn’t they? The city houses speakers of over 180 languages, countless different neighbourhoods, cultures, opinions, and opportunities.

Everyone you meet has a different way of thinking and living; each neighbourhood has its own culture, feel, and common understanding.

In the two-plus years that I’ve lived here, every person I’ve met has had their own way of life, heritage, and point of view. I’ve found that my friends who grew up here navigate and move between the different neighbourhoods so effortlessly; they know where to go and what to see.

They poke at the world around them, intrigued, eager to explore and learn and listen. I think this is part of being a Torontonian — embracing the culture, exchanging your own, and learning from one another.

And while these are people that have grown up here, spent their lives here, I don’t think this is a necessity for being a Torontonian. In fact, most Torontonians I know have grown up somewhere else — they’ve brought their homes and cultures with them, and are eager participants in this exchange. I think part of Toronto culture is that it’s so open, that it allows us in, welcomes us to be a part of it, and make it a part of ourselves.

And again, maybe I’m wrong; maybe I’m just an outsider looking in and making shapes out of shadows. And maybe it doesn’t even matter what we think Toronto culture is, and the elusivity just builds its intrigue.

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Scottish Dancing Thursdays starting Feb. 27 Fun, fitness, friendship

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Science

February 24, 2020 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

It’s time prisons adequately treat substance use disorder, conclude U of T researchers

Research highlights need for continuum of care for opioid use disorder in prison settings

The effectiveness of opioid agonist treatment The recommended treatment involves regular administration of long-acting opioid agonists — compounds such as methadone or buprenorphine-naloxone — in order to ease cravings or other symptoms of withdrawal.

OAT has been highly effective in reducing relapse, as well as opioid-related and all-cause mortality when treating patients with opioid use disorder. It has also reduced HIV and HepatitisC transmission rates, and is associated with social improvements in patients, such as better employment prospects and familial well-being.

Opioid use disorder treatment in Canadian correctional facilities Despite what is known about the disproportionate rates of opioid use disorder among incarcerated populations, and the well-documented effec-

The prison setting is a promising opportunity to provide people who use drugs, and may not otherwise have access to substance-use related health care services, with prevention and treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that incarcerated people who qualify for OAT and give consent should

VA RS ITY

Overdoses as a result of opioid use disorder disproportionately affect people who have been recently released from the criminal justice system.

Because of the illicit nature of most drug use, people who are affected by opioid use disorder often find themselves in and out of the system throughout their lifetimes.

However, researchers have found that better standards of care for these people can lower rates of reincarceration.

A systematic review by U of T researchers of opioid related interventions and incarceration has concluded that pharmacological intervention, such as opioid agonist treatment (OAT), could be an effective means of treating patients with opioid use disorder within incarcerated populations.

The co-authors concluded that correctional facilities should scale up OAT provision in order to decrease opioid-related overdoses and mortality rates, and improve the continuum of care for people with opioid dependence.

tiveness of OAT, there are still significant barriers to the adequate provision of these treatments in prison settings.

Canada’s federal correctional system introduced OAT over 20 years ago, but its availability still varies widely between provincial, territorial, and federal facilities. Another

HE

Indhu Rammohan Varsity Contributor

barrier is the rapid transitions between prison and community that patients with short sentences face, as this makes it difficult to maintain treatment continuity after admission and release.

“The key finding in most studies is the need to provide a continuum of treatment before they go into the system, while they are in the system, and when they go back to the community,” said Dr. Monica Malta, an assistant professor in U of T’s Department of Psychiatry and lead author of the study, in an interview with The Varsity.

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promptly receive it, and in a 1990 General Assembly Resolution the United Nations (UN) said that prisoners should have access to health services available in their countries, which includes OAT in Canada, without discrimination due to their incarceration.

When asked about what a continuum of treatment would ideally look like, and how that compares to the reality of Canadian prison systems, Malta explained that there is currently no standardized way of dealing with opioid dependence in prisons. “It depends on where this person is IEN JUL

How Toronto medical staff responded to the first confirmed coronavirus case in Canada

Illness was quickly identified, patient has since been discharged to home care Oviya Muralidharan Varsity Contributor

One day after returning from a three-month trip to Wuhan, China, a 56-year-old man arrived at the emergency department of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto with a fever and dry cough.

According to University of Toronto-affiliated researchers, who reported on the case in a research paper, that patient is believed to be the first case of coronavirus in Canada. To learn more about how the medical staff reacted, The Varsity interviewed co-author Dr. Jerome Leis, an associate professor at U of T’s Department of Medicine and a physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

The coronavirus, which has also been called 2019-nCoV and COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan in December 2019. As of February 22, there are 78,672 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide, with nine cases in Canada and only three confirmed cases in Ontario. There has yet to be a death in Canada.

For the first confirmed case in Toronto, a chest X-ray showed evidence of viral pneumonia.

When combined with the patient’s travel history, this made him a strong candidate for the coronavirus. However, medical staff still needed a test to confirm the diagnosis.

As Leis explained, “At the time, the provincial

lab was still in the process of validating the diagnostic testing for this new virus.”

“We submitted the appropriate specimens right away,” he continued, “[and] the provincial lab came through right on time to be able to confirm this as the first presumptive case in Canada.”

The National Microbiology Laboratory of Canada later confirmed the results.

Initial findings raise concern, which later faded There were two things about the patient that stood out to physicians. First, he had mild thrombocytopenia — a low platelet count in the blood — which only a minority of cases had. This was worrying for the patient, who did have mild thrombocytopenia. “[Thrombocytopenia] can be associated with more severe forms of infection – which led us to be concerned when this patient presented,” wrote Leis.

“Since [studying this patient], there is [increasing] data suggesting that the low platelet count seen in some patients with COVID-19 does not appear to predict more severe disease whereas low lymphocyte count is more predictive. This goes to show that we are still learning about this infection one case at a time.”

After one day, the patient also developed blood in his phlegm. “Some early reports noted that COVID-19 can cause blood in a patient’s phlegm… so we thought this might be signifi-

cant. In the end, this symptom resolved quickly.”

Home care sufficient treatment once symptoms abate In the end, the patient recovered on his own in hospital, and was discharged five days after intake, when his symptoms normalized. He was then put under home isolation with a nurse checking on him.

As the majority of the cases for the coronavirus are mild, home isolation could both curtail the

incarcerated and who is the health professional dealing with on a one-on-one basis.”

With the lack of a standardized policy that results in inconsistent coverage and quality of care, there are many prisons that do not offer OAT at all.

A person receiving methadone treatment in their community could go to prison and not receive any treatment at all, which would force a painful withdrawal process — both WHO and the UN have identified this as a human rights violation.

Is it enough?

When considering substance dependence in the context of a chronic health condition, Malta emphasized that people need access to 24/7 lowthreshold services “where they feel welcome any time, any day, no matter if they’re homeless or if they don’t speak English.” Malta also stressed that when witnessing an overdose, people who use drugs should not have to be afraid of reentering the criminal justice system when calling emergency services to ask for help.

In many ways, these issues are symptoms of a larger problem.

There has been a shift in addressing substance use disorder as a health issue rather than a criminal one in Canada, and this has made substantial progress, with the legality of supervised consumption sites, implementation of naloxone programs, and availability of recreational drug checking services. However, the fact that the possession of many drugs is still a criminal offence makes it difficult to meaningfully address the health harms associated with drug use.

Without decriminalization, according to numerous public health experts, the pursuit of drugrelated harm reduction will remain paradoxically at odds with the Criminal Code, which will continue to systematically disadvantage the health of people who use drugs.

Disclosure: Indhu Rammohan is the president of the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy U of T Chapter. spread of infection and avoid wasting precious health care resources. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hospitalization may not be required unless there is concern for rapid deterioration of health.

Currently, there is no recommended medicine to prevent or treat the coronavirus. However, “those with severe illness receive optimized supportive care,” noted the WHO. For example, if patients experience trouble breathing, medical staff may provide supplemental oxygen or intubation, which is an insertion of a tube down a patient’s mouth into the airway.

However, how can we know if there is a need for medical intervention or not? As Leis wrote, “We are hoping that future studies will derive and validate predictive scores that might be used for this purpose rather than relying on clinical judgement alone.”

JULIEN BALBONTIN/THE VARSITY

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SCIENCE

science@thevarsity.ca

NSBEHacks 2020: How a hackathon created community for Black U of T STEM students

University, high school students win first place for software that could help people with autism Adam A. Lam Science Editor

Where can Black STEM students find a sense of community at the University of Toronto? This is a question that the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) U of T chapter sought to answer by hosting its second annual NSBEHacks hackathon from February 8–9 at the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

The hackathon, which was a computer programming event at which teams collaborated to develop a product over the course of two days, was free for entry and welcome to people of all ethnicities and races.

Finding a community and building confidence “What we hope the participants get out of it is a sense of inclusion and [understanding that] you’re part of a larger group,” said lead organizer Joshua Pius, a third-year computer engineering student at U of T, to The Varsity. He noted the value of students finding a sense of belonging, especially those who are underrepresented as a student group in STEM. Idilo Abdalla, another lead organizer of the event and a third-year electrical engineering student at U of T, explained that the opportunity to develop a product can also build confidence among participants.

“We want to create an environment where

Participants could build skills that they can take with them to other hackathons and events.

ADAM A. LAM/THE VARSITY

people feel that they are able to actually complete a project and build something technically,” she said. “They can then leverage these skills to take to other hackathons [and] other events.”

In addition to building skills from developing their product, the hackathon also featured educational workshops for students to learn more about using services such as IBM Watson Cloud, Graph QL, and the Google Cloud Platform.

“Being the first Black student hackathon in the GTA, the purpose of NBSEHacks is to understand what people in the Black community are going through,” said Mohamed Hirole, a lead organizer and third-year electrical engineering student at U of T, to The Varsity. “[It also creates] a safe space for them to want to feel like they can become more involved in tech.”

In conversation with Clarity, the first-place team at NSBEHacks The first place team of NSBEHacks, Clarity, was recognized for its achievement in building a product to help people with autism learn to understand emotions through tone.

The team was comprised of Brian Nguyen, a grade 12 high school student at Weston Collegiate Institute; Huzaifa Ahmad, a second-year computer engineering student at Western University; Tarela Okoronkwo, a second-year chemical engineering student at Waterloo University;

and Aman Puranik, a second-year student in biotechnology and economics at Waterloo. “[People with autism] sometimes have trouble registering and understanding emotions through tone, voice, and facial expression,” said Okoronkwo to The Varsity.

“So our app took speech, converted it to text, and reading that text, it was able to output an emotion associated with what was said.” The product uses text-to-speech software to convert the audio into text, and then, using International Business Machines technology, analyzes that text for tone, emotion, and sentiment for the user.

It shows the user a colour, which is dependent on audio’s sentiment, to help them learn to associate speech with different emotions.

Nguyen said to The Varsity that the software could find applications in schools. “A lot of kids learn… social skills at a very young age,” he said.

“Being able to implement this technology while kids are [often] socializing and still very young… helps them develop those social skills [in an important time for growth and development].”

Clarity hopes to further develop the app by potentially implementing facial recognition software based on Microsoft technology, which could help students learn to interpret facial expressions in conjunction with the software’s speech analysis.

Studying science or medicine?

Black Researchers Initiative to Empower will ‘BRITEn’ your day Undergraduates, graduates: all Black students are welcome

Adam A. Lam Science Editor

Imposter syndrome, not seeing people similar to you in your classes, and being the first in your family to attend graduate school.

These are experiences that underrepresented members of the University of Toronto community, including Black students, face. To overcome feelings like imposter syndrome — the feeling of being underqualified or undeserving of your accomplishments — Black Researchers Initiative to Empower (BRITE) strives to lift up the students around them — both at the undergraduate and graduate level.

The Varsity spoke to Ikran Ali, a third-year PhD student at U of T’s Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and the president of BRITE; Zahra Yussuf, a second year Master’s student in pharmacology and vice-president of BRITE; and Mohamed Adam, a recent Master of Science graduate from the IMS and BRITE’s treasurer about their mission to support undergraduate and graduate students at U of T who are studying science and medicine. BRITE does this by providing them with opportunities for learning and mentorship through meetings and community events.

The inspiration behind BRITE Ali joined BRITE last year to meet likeminded students who share similar experiences navigating the graduate school system while being underrepresented.

“I had personal struggles like imposter syndrome where I didn’t really see many people who looked like me in my classes,” said Ali, reflecting on her start to graduate school. “I felt out of place… like I didn’t belong, that I was a fraud.”

Ali reflected that she has also had academic struggles, such as difficulties finding guidance for scheduling committee meetings, applying for scholarships, and learning how to work effectively as a graduate student.

Adam shared similar experiences with Ali. “When I first started [graduate] school, I didn’t see people that looked like me,” he said. “I thought I needed a space to feel comfortable, and that’s how I got into this club, because being with other Black researchers [enables you] to express yourself, and also form connections that really help you toward throughout your academic career.”

Yussuf noted that these challenges can also apply to undergraduates considering graduate school and alumni

who have recently completed their degrees. She reflected that it can be difficult to figure out the graduate school admissions process, what to look for in a supervisor, and how to find employment after graduating by yourself.

Ali reflected that finding a place of belonging empowers you to think, “Yeah, I can do this.” She continued, “There are other people who are in my same position, and you have them to support you.”

To Ali, the creation of community is especially important for students who are first in the family to attend graduate school. “A lot of us are first generation,” she said. “A lot of us don’t know people who’ve done this before. So just to be able to help each other out, it’s really important for the club and for us.”

Providing learning opportunities for students To support undergraduate and graduate students, BRITE has hosted professional and social events throughout the year.

On January 31, BRITE hosted a workshop to help undergraduate students find research opportunities over the summer. “We found graduate students, including our club members, to mentor those undergrads who are looking for those positions,” said Adam.

“We [also] have social events because, once again, one of our missions is to create that space where students can feel comfortable. We think that’s really important,” he added. Among other events, BRITE hosted a “Navigating Grad School & Social” session in October, and a game night in November.

BRITE will be hosting a screening of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on February 28, which will be followed by a moderated discussion on race and informed consent in health care.

Lessons learned from experiences in BRITE Reflecting on their experiences with BRITE, Adam said: “I think I learned how to become a better mentor, how to share resources, and how to network better, just through being a part of BRITE. I have [also] met a bunch of new people.”

Ali noted that BRITE has enabled her to “to see that we are qualified to be where we are, and be confident in what we’re doing, [while] not comparing ourselves to different people who are at different stages of their graduate or academic careers.”

Yussuf reflected on the value of being “[surrounded] by people who are [there to] support you, because that makes a massive difference in how you feel, and your confidence, and how you go about your degree, and your overall experience. And I think it’s so important.”

Ali encouraged research students seeking advice to take the initiative to find opportunities. “I know a lot of people are too shy to ask for things, but there’s only so much people can [do to] help you if you’re not telling people what you need.

And so [if you are] just… able to break out of your shell and ask people, a lot of people are willing to help.”

Adam agreed, saying, “Don’t be too shy to seek out help because more than often, we are willing to help, because we’ve been in the same position before.”

“We really want to see other students succeed as well.”

BRITE aims to support both undergraduate and graduate research students at U of T. ADAM A. LAM/THE VARSITY

var.st/science

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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“Empowering ourselves up”: UTSC hackathon spotlights Black and women coders Hundreds of participants build products, learn coding at 36-hour Hack the Valley 4

Adam A. Lam Science Editor

Hundreds of participants built products and learned coding at Hack the Valley 4, a University of Toronto student-led hackathon from February 14–16 at UTSC’s Instructional Centre. Hackathons are collaborative computer programming events.

Highlights of the hackathon included a Black in Tech Summit, together with a Women in Code Summit, which explored the experiences of programmers in underrepresented groups.

Why host Hack the Valley 4?

“The main goal [of the hackathon] is to develop the hacker community,” said Ralph Maamari, a fifth-year UTSC computer science student specializing in software engineering, and the president of Hack the Valley 4.

To Maamari, this means encouraging participants to become interested in computer science. He hopes that they can grow their enthusiasm to attend more hackathons, pursue their own coding side projects, and potentially land internships at top companies in the world.

“We want to introduce hacking… [also known as] programming, to first-year students, if not to older students as well,” added Prashant Patel, a third-year UTSC mathematics and statistics student and executive assistant of the hackathon.

Over the 36-hour period, coders developed products over a wide range of fields. Unlike many hackathons, Maamari noted that Hack the Valley 4 did not set defined goals for coders to work toward. Judges evaluated the event’s products on the categories including functionality, creativity, and level of technical difficulty. Sponsors also offered prizes for their own categories.

Maamari and Patel also highlighted the hackathon’s commitment to sustainability and equity.

The event followed a “Global Hackathon Sustainability Standard,” which aims to minimize waste and recycle meals. It also hosted two summits that featured panel discussions about the experiences of Black and women programmers in industry.

Black in Tech Summit Ahmed Duada, an innovator, discussed how his experience at Next 36, a program that supports Canadian entrepreneurs, empowered him to cofound his own venture, Wanda. The company delivers groceries directly into the fridges of apartments in downtown Toronto.

He explained that the venture’s pricing is similar to the cost of groceries downtown, as the firm purchases groceries away from downtown at lower prices. To build trust, he added that employees are salaried and wear body cameras, whose footage is viewable by the service’s clients.

Anisa Tahil, a software engineer at Zero Gravity Labs, discussed her transition from biomedical Highlights of the event included the Black in Tech and Women in Code summits.

ADAM A. LAM/THE VARSITY

engineering into computer science after graduating from Ryerson University.

She talked about her entry into a threemonth coding boot camp by Lighthouse Labs, which involved intense workdays from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. The program enabled her to gain experience in coding with the language Javascript and the framework React JS, and later secure a job in software.

Reflecting on her undergraduate experience, Tahil recalled, “I was definitely in a program where a lot of people did not look like me. It was very difficult in terms of finding people that you can relate to or finding people that [you] can speak with about the same things that you face.”

She was part of a small minority of Black

How precision medicine is changing the way we think about health care

In conversation with Dr. Shinya Ito about new advances in personalized treatment

XIN YI LIM/THE VARSITY

Valeria Khudiakova Science Correspondent

Precision medicine is a promising, newly emerging approach for treating, diagnosing, and preventing diseases.

A recent review by Dr. Shinya Ito, a U of T

women in the engineering program — “not only biomedical engineering, but across all of the engineering fields.” She added, “And then moving on to the workplace, [I was] one of the very few Black people there as well.”

What motivates Tahil is her goal to be a role model for underrepresented people who want to follow a similar path. “There’s a lot of people who are Black [who] feel… discouraged because there’s people out there that will… tell them [they] shouldn’t be in a certain field.”

“For example, from an early age, you could have a guidance counsellor [who tells] you, maybe you shouldn’t take this class.

It’s too hard. Things like that get to people, and I just feel like being in

professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; and Dr. Ruud Verstegen, a clinical fellow at The Hospital for Sick Children, explored the potential applications of precision medicine.

Ito wrote to The Varsity about the paper, and the applications of its findings.

this field, you have to be strong, you have to [have] a strong mindset,” she continued.

Tahil hopes her success can inspire others.

Raho Mohamed, a recent graduate of Ryerson University and a current student at the same boot camp, agreed with Tahil.

“It is hard [to work in software] because you sometimes feel like you can’t really relate to people who don’t come from the same background as you,” she said. Mohamed recommended finding a mentor for support.

“But I would [also] say, don’t doubt your abilities. Try your best,” Mohamed continued. “Once you get there, you can inspire more people to [succeed].”

What is precision medicine?

Ito explained that precision medicine is the method of “[addressing] inter-individual differences among people even within a relatively homogeneous demographic and ethnic group and in the same disease groups” to better select treatments. Precision medicine aims to empower medical staff to choose patient-specific health care approaches for higher rates of success.

In other words, precision medicine aims to identify which treatment or prevention methods will be the most effective based on the patient’s genetic and environmental background.

According to Ito and Verstegen this “offers a drastic paradigm shift” from the conventional “one-size-fits-all” approach. “There is no such thing as an ‘average’ patient in [the] real world,” Ito noted.

The science behind precision medicine In recent years, research has identified differences among patients with the same disease in the ways that their symptoms manifest and react to treatment. For example, similar tumours may still have major differences in their molecular make-up and behaviour.

These variations can be the result of both genetic and lifestyle factors, including diet and occupation, and may very well have an impact on how patients respond to treatment and a patient’s chance of relapse.

Despite the relative novelty of the term, certain practices of precision medicine have been implemented for years — for instance, blood transfusion patients have been matched by

Women in Code Summit The Women in Code Summit was co-organized by the Women in Computer Science, Statistics and Mathematics student organization at UTSC. A surprise panelist, Disney Lam, shared her experiences as a production engineer and team lead at Facebook. Her team’s focus includes ensuring that Facebook’s advertisements are targeted properly and helping users by ensuring the firm meets privacy standards.

As a production engineer, she noted, “it’s even more male-dominated than regular software engineering.” She recalled how at the start of her employment, a male colleague treated her in a demeaning and disrespectful manner.

“Eventually, I was like, ‘No, I’m going to ignore this person,’” she said. “[I’m going to] continue building my team, and keep on landing projects to show that I’m good.”

Her attitude resulted in her promotion. As a tech lead, she now leads a team, of which 50 per cent are women.

Andrea Chen, a hackathon coach at Major League Hacking, also encouraged attendees to make the most out of hackathons, even if they are beginners at coding.

“If you are not a coder, but you’re still here at a hackathon, there’s still so much value you could bring,” she said. She noted that participants can bring skills in design and research to their teams that do not rely on coding experience.

Chen also reflected on dealing with negative self-talk. “You [can spend] so much time putting yourself down and constantly [undervaluing your achievements],” she said.

“When I think about how other people in the room, like maybe my male friends, are always constantly hyping up their own projects,” she continued. “What if we just spend that time, instead of breaking ourselves down, empowering ourselves up?”

“The time we spend putting yourself down is the same time we could be… building ourselves up.”

For those who struggle to build confidence, Chen suggested approaching it in a competitive way. “[If ] I can hype my project up more than [my male friends] in that sense, and that kind of leads to [building] a fake kind of confidence.” blood type for over a century.

The promise of precision medicine in drug therapy Over the past decade, Ito’s team has focused extensively on pharmacogenomics — an area of medical science which Ito explained aims “to improve drug therapy by navigating drug and dose selection based on individual genetic information relevant to drug metabolism and therapeutic targets” — and its implementation in clinical settings.

Ito added that looking into the genomic profile of individual patients helps decide on choosing better drugs and doses for the patient. “For example, if we find a particular… genotype in a patient, we will not use a certain drug [in order] to avoid life-threatening toxicity (i.e., the risk is too high to accept over the therapeutic benefit).”

“If we find a particular genotype of a drug metabolizing enzyme in a patient which is known to have a functional consequence, we know that a certain drug does not work or [will be] too toxic [for] him or her.”

When asked about the limitations of precision medicine, Ito noted that it “is a work in progress,” and that “we should be careful not to overstate its value” since research into the field is constantly advancing and there are many things about the human body that are still a mystery.

However, Ito stressed the need for researchers to investigate the way genomes interact with the environment. These interactions cause differences in our bodies and can significantly affect the way that we respond to prescription drugs.

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FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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Notice to Members: Spring 2020 Elections The UTSU is your Students’ Union and your voice on campus. The UTSU is governed by a Board of Directors elected by YOU. Our aim is to provide services and eventsthat save you money, enrich your university experience, and to advocacate for issues that are important to you. The University of Toronto Students’ Union is holding its Spring 2020 elections for the following positions: POSITIONS AVAILABLE:

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Sports

February 24, 2020 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

Track and field shines at provincials Women finish third, men fourth at OUAs Sara Fredo Varsity Staff

The University of Toronto track and field teams had a spectacular two days of competition at the Ontario University Athletic (OUA) Championships at York University from February 21–22.

The Blues notched 13 podium finishes over the two-day event, with the women claiming the overall bronze medal and the men’s team finishing just off the podium in fourth place. The results — six of which were first-place finishes — bode well for the Blues as they look ahead to U SPORTS Nationals.

On the women’s side, two rookie Blues won gold in their first OUA appearances. Pole vaulter Alexzandra Thorndson single-handedly swept her competition, while jumper Kristen Schulz — who also placed second in long jump — nabbed the triple jump crown. The women’s team rookies played a crucial role in their team’s bronze medal performance, with a notable performance coming from Christina Esposito, who teamed up with veteran standouts Lucia Stafford, Somerset Jarvis, and Sarah Kwajafa to earn the women’s four-by-800 metre relay silver.

First-year sprinters Elizabeth Martin, Onome Gbinje, and Maya Ryan also had fabulous performances: racing with veteran Katrina Innanen, they won silver in the four-by-200 metre relay.

Martin also snagged a third place finish in the 60-metre sprint, while teammates Emily Branderhorst and Hannah Rolfe claimed first and third respectively in the high jump. Toronto’s medal performances were also accompanied by a pair of fourth-place finishes by Innanen in the 300-metre and the four-by-400 metre relays.

Jack Berkshire was the star of the men’s team, winning the 600 metre event while adding a bronze medal in the 300 metre. Cameron Bruce notched a first-place finish in the 60-metre hurdles, with triple jumper Femi Akinduro rounding out the gold medal performances with his second straight triple jump title. Frank Vreugdenhil completed his first OUA championship with a bronze medal in shot put and a sixth-place finish in weight throw.

Other notable performances included heptathlete Philippe Johns’ fifth-place standing, and a fourth-place finish from the four-by-200 metre team.

Toronto will now look forward to the U SPORTS National Championships, which will take place from March 5–7 at the University of Alberta. Varsity Blues fans should expect more big performances from the likes of Canadian record-holder Stafford, as well as two-time silver medallist Branderhorst and reigning champion Akinduro.

The OUA Championships took place at York University.

COURTESY OF JIMMY WANG/ VARSITY BLUES

Rowing in the winter: how to compete when the lake freezes over

The Varsity Blues rowing team compete at the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships Laura Ashwood Associate Sports Editor

On February 9, the Varsity Blues rowing team woke up before dawn to a cold winter day. Each team member pulled on their ‘T’-emblazoned unisuit and braved the frigid weather to trek to a bus parked outside of the Varsity Centre, en route to the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships (CIRCs) in Mississauga.

Very few things are as stressful for a rower as a two-kilometre test on the rowing machine.

The test is a main marker of physical and mental fitness, and every rower knows it — the time you get is your ticket to making the team. Every second in a two-kilometre sprint counts, and every minute of training that an athlete clocks is motivated by shaving off as much time as possible. That’s why when rowers are competing not just against themselves, but against others in a massive stadium at the CIRC, the pressure is on.

The CIRCs are annual competitions held at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre that beckon rowing clubs from all over Canada to send their fastest athletes to compete purely on rowing machines. Despite the pressure that it puts on a rower’s off-season, it’s a welcomed outlet for all the pent-up competitiveness that can build in long, cold winters of indoor training and no races.

“A two-kilometre race is very stressful, it takes a week of mental preparation,” said Matthew D’Amico, third-year member of the men’s open weight team. “I go to bed early [the night before]

because I know I’m going to be up and stressed for a few hours.” D’Amico said that CIRCs only heightens his pre-race anxiety: “It’s a lot tougher when there’s a crowd watching you.”

The pressure of the competition, however, is addictive: “You love to hate it,” said CIRC silver medalist and U of T rower Claire Kendall. This year, Kendall entered as third seed overall, and crushed a personal best to snag second place. “I make very specific plans weeks ahead,” she elaborated. “I went to [my coach’s] office twice the week before the competition so he could look it over.” Despite her nerves, Kendall said that the hard work of winter training will push you through: “my fitness really paid off.”

Most of all, it’s worth doing because when you row, you do it as a team. Katy Myler, silver medalist of the 1,000-metre coxswain race, said that the best part is to “prepare together, and win together” as Blues. “It was a fun race, and it felt nice to see [my teammate] Zoe Thompson and I ahead and everyone else way behind.”

So despite the nerves, the fierce competition, and the preference for the on-water races of warmer weather, the Blues will certainly be a regular sight at the CIRCs for years to come.

There is, after all, no better feeling than a medal around your neck.

Disclosure: Laura Ashwood is a member of the 2019-2020 Varsity Blues Rowing team.

Indoor rowing competitions are an indicator of physical and mental fitness.

COURTESY OF DEVIN WARD

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SPORTS

sports@thevarsity.ca

Women’s hockey wins game one of playoffs Blues take down the defending champions in overtime period Kayla Paciocco Varsity Contributor

This past Wednesday, the U of T Varsity Blues women’s hockey team secured the first win of their conference playoffs against the University of Guelph Gryphons. The intense game ended in overtime with a score of 3–2.

The Blues and the Gryphons’ conference opener was an evenly matched, aggressive game that promised an exciting series to come. In the first period, Toronto controlled the ice: defender Gabrielle De Serres opened the scoring when she found the back of the Gryphons’ net

with an assist from Mathilde De Serres. The Blues followed up on this with a tip-in goal from fellow defender Christine Chao, assisted by Jana Headrick. However, the Gryphons cut the Blues’ lead in half when forward Lauren Ianni took advantage of Toronto’s double penalty and scored Guelph’s first goal of the game.

This fast-paced and physical playing style continued into the second period, as the Gryphons managed to tie the score in the first 10 minutes with a goal from Stephanie Gava.

Toronto remained scoreless throughout the second period, but the Blues’ defensive line and goalie Erica Fryer were successful in holding off any further goals from Guelph.

The third period began with several great shots on the net by Blues players Chao and Laura Ellis, who really challenged Gryphons’ goalie Aurore Beaulieu. On the other end of the ice, Guelph forwards Gabriele Underwood and Karli Shell had the opportunity to go ahead with a twoon-one play in the Toronto zone, but Beaulieu held them off. The period continued with rapid back-and-forth plays between the two teams, but both goalies rose to the challenge with some great saves. The period ended in a

2–2 deadlock, in spite of Toronto having 11 shots on goal and Guelph having 10.

With the score tied, intensity ramped up dramatically as the already high-pressure game entered a 20-minute sudden-death period. This high-speed period consisted of a major struggle for control of the rink, as the Blues would not give up. The game seemed to turn in the Blues’ favour, with about 10 minutes left in overtime when Guelph received a two-minute penalty for tripping. Despite the extra player advantage, the Blues were not able to capitalize on the penalty with a goal.

With just over three minutes left in the game, Guelph called a timeout that allowed the Blues to regroup. Madelyn Walsh delivered a blistering shot on net that almost ended the game, but it wasn’t over until Lauren MacDonnell and Chao set up Gabrielle De Serres for the winning tip-in with under three minutes remaining.

Toronto emerged victorious against the defending 2019 champions with a great finish. The Blues will play their second game of the conference when they travel to Guelph on Saturday, February 22.

The women’s team won in game one of their quarterfinal series.

COURTESY OF SEYRAN MAMMADOV/ VARSITY BLUES

Blues eliminated in first round of OUA playoff

The Blues capped off a first-place finish with a first-round exit.

COURTESY OF SEYRAN MAMMADOV/ VARSITY BLUES

Toronto win first game against Western, but drop final two for a disappointing end to an otherwise strong season Sara Fredo and Silas Le Blanc Varsity Staff and Sports Editor

Game one The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team trounced the Western University Western Mustangs 6–2 on February 12 at the Varsity Arena. The victory saw Toronto take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal series. Four different Blues scored in the game, led

by Scott Kirton, who scored a penalty shot and notched his first career hat trick. Toronto goalie Alex Bishop got the start in net and notched 37 saves in the win.

The first period saw end-to-end action right off of the opening whistle. Western, which barely snuck into the playoffs after ending the regular season in eighth place — the last playoff spot — showed their usual aggression and tenacity. Toronto head coach Ryan Medel described them as an “opportunistic team.”

The Blues knew they would have to be sharp, since their last matchup with the Mustangs saw a narrow 4–3 Toronto victory. Ross Krieger and Joey Manchurek each had brilliant opportunities of their own, but it was Kirton who opened the scoring off a Justin Brand rebound with less than two minutes to go in the first period.

Toronto came out strong in the second period

as they looked to widen their lead. Kevin Lavoie was particularly dangerous for the Blues on the counter, and captain Willy Paul was a rock on defense. Despite Bishop’s standout goalkeeping, Western managed to sneak in a tying goal halfway through the second period.

However, the Blues were undeterred, and stuck to their game plan; this move was rewarding, as Chase Olsen smashed home a rebound from defender Riley Bruce.

Soon after, Kirton was fouled on a goal scoring opportunity, and was awarded a penalty shot.

Kirton said he was “pretty nervous” going into the shot, but he showed absolutely no nerves as he faked a shot before drawing and smashing the puck into the net. The Toronto bench and Blues fans both erupted in cheers, and from then on it was all Toronto.

It was evident that Western was growing frustrated as they became more chippy in the third period. Penalties piled up for both teams, with Western taking three and Toronto taking four for the game. Toronto used their power plays well, though, and Manchurek’s efforts were

finally rewarded with a top-shelf goal to widen the Blues’ lead to 4–1.

Western tried pulling their goalie in an attempt to get back into the game, but Krieger calmly notched an open net goal for the fifth goal. Western managed to scrape back a goal, but Kirton completed his hat trick with an emptynet goal, giving the Blues a 6–2 victory.

Game three After losing on the road at Western, the Blues came back to the Varsity Arena for a third and final do-or-die match up between the two teams.

The first and second periods were quiet in terms of offense, as the score was 0–0 after 40 minutes of play. Western slightly outshot Toronto by a margin of 20–16, but chances were had at both ends, and each goalie was able to keep their shutout intact.

Western finally opened the scoring in the third period, when Western’s Kyle Pettit snuck a shot from the far corner of the field, finding the net behind Bishop. With around 12 minutes left of the game, Toronto gave up a turnover at their own blue line, leading to a two-on-one for Western. Reed Morison was able to snipe it into the back of the net to give his team the 2–0 lead.

Looking for offense, Toronto needed their goal scorers to come up big, and leading scorer David Thompson delivered, with a great give-andgo goal to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately for Toronto, this was the only goal they got in the game, and Western put away the game with an empty-net goal.

With this loss, the Blues are eliminated from the OUA playoffs. Despite finishing first in the OUA West standings, they were knocked out of the playoffs much earlier than they had hoped.

var.st/sports

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

What we know about cannabis and sports performance

Hint: it’s not much Roshni Ravi Varsity Contributor

With the legalization of cannabis in Canada in October 2018, there is a growing interest in its effect on cognition, mood, and daily activities. Many people use cannabis recreationally, and it is often used as a pain medication as well.

The two primary cannabinoids found in cannabis are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which are used for recreational and medical purposes. THC has gained more traction due to its intoxicating effects induced by its ability to activate cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2.

This activation creates a strong sense of pleasure, and allows users to feel sensations more vividly.

CBD can be used for treating epilepsy, inflammation, anxiety, and psychotic episodes.

So, we know a bit about how cannabis works recreationally and medically, but how about in other contexts? Surprisingly enough, there has been limited research on cannabis and sport performance.

University of Toronto systematic review A U of T-affiliated systematic review published in Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach analyzed the current literature on cannabis use and sport performance. The three aims of the study were to look for current regulations around cannabis and sport, the epidemiology of cannabis use

in athletes, and its effect on sport performance and recovery. The study included a total of 37 articles.

The studies used included individuals between the ages of 13–48, from high school to high-level athletes.

Current regulations There is a lot of variability in cannabis regulations, depending on the sport, some only prohibit cannabis use during competitions while others prohibit cannabis even during training. Also, the majority of the regulations focus on THC rather than CBD, and there seems to be a wider acceptance of CBD use in sports.

There is also a lack of sufficient research on cannabis and sport performance to determine whether the use of cannabis can be considered “doping.”

In order for a substance to classify as a doping substance, it needs to have the potential to enhance performance, violate the spirit of the sport, or impose significant health risks to the athlete.

“Athletes just need to be a little bit careful in terms of their consumption of what they perceived to be legal, which is CBD… they need to be mindful that it may contain trace amounts of THC, which may ultimately result in a positive test if they were ever tested in competition that’s probably the biggest thing,” Timothy Leroux, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and one of the study’s co-authors, told The Varsity.

Epidemiology of cannabis use in athletes Of the athletes studied, 23.4 per cent reported us-

ing cannabis within the past year. This finding may seem high, however cannabis use in athletes is still lower than the rate of a cohort of similarly aged individuals in the American general public, which was 31.9 per cent.

These numbers may also be underreported, since these are the self-reported numbers, and there is still stigma regarding cannabis use despite its legalization. However, this number is similar to the reported 24.7 per cent of athletes who reportedly used cannabis according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) through its Student-Athlete Drug Use Survey.

cannabis and concussions. As students, the benefits of the use of cannabis are not contraindicated by this paper, however due to the limited research on the short- and long-term effects, it is advised that student athletes veer toward the side of caution when using cannabis while competing athletically.

“We need to get everyone together at the same table on some bigger stage to try to really harmonize the regulations and rules so that they’re very clear,” Leroux concluded.

Sport performance and recovery There were four studies surveyed on the impact of cannabis on sport performance. Two of these studies showed a negative effect and two found no effect.

One study found that THC has an impact on leg fatigue in participants who consumed cannabis 17 minutes prior to engaging in sport. It is also essential to note that there were no other studies that reported benefits for cannabis use specific to sport performance. There is no data on its effect on recovery from injuries, however it may improve overall fatigue and enhance pain management, even for nerve pain related to the spinal cord and tight muscles. A potential correlation has also been found between THC use and survival after a traumatic brain injury.

Future directions The current research for the effect of cannabis on sport performance is lacking. The dosage, potency, and effects of cannabis need to be determined in other to form the relevant regulations around sport. An interesting direction is research on

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