Race, Culture, & Ethnic Diversity
We strive to build welcoming and inclusive programs and facilities where individuals of any race, religion, nationality, culture or ethnicity will feel respected. We do this by training our UBC recreation staff to reflect and challenge their own stereotypes and assumptions through Community Building through Education and Active Bystander training. When concerns arise from our participants, we are committed to taking these concerns seriously. If you have suggestions on how we can improve the experience for all of our community, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Our department strives to create inclusive, equitable and accessible physical activity experiences for all. This remains especially true for our Indigenous community at UBC. We recognize that UBC Point Grey Campus, where most of our buildings are located, is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nation. In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Call’s to Action, and BC’s adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), our office strives to support reconciliation and decolonization. In light of the recently launched UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, we critically processed how we might decolonize our work and align with the university’s commitments. We have partnered with the First Nations House of Learning, UBC Indigenous Wellness Committee, UBC Indigenous Studies in Kinesiology Department, Musqueam Community Centre, Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council (ISPARC), and Indigenous Physical Activity and Cultural Circle (IPACC) to ensure our work is Indigenous informed and Indigenous lead.
Resources
Across all of our facilities, programs and events, we strive to be welcoming to all participants while also maintaining safety. We use the law to guide us in our decisions about what is appropriate. This means that when participating at our facilities or in our programs, participants are welcome to wear clothing that they find comfortable and that may adhere to cultural or religious customs, as long as it does not jeopardize participant safety (or the safety/health of others) in the activity.
For example, wearing long sleeves and pants in the Aquatic Centre’s pools and hot tub is allowed, as long as it is clean and not likely to become a barrier to someone’s ability to safely swim.
- Move More Learn More: is a 7-week interactive health education program designed for self-identified Asian Women students, a group on average with the lowest reported physical activity rates on campus, however all self-identified women are welcome to participate. This specialized program includes a variety of health learning topics and private group physical activity sessions so that participants can try out new ways to move.
- Bridge Through Sport: The UBC Athletics and Recreation department’s involvement includes participation from Varsity athletes in presenting their sport to youth in the Musqueam community. Varsity athletes serve as role models for youth, as they embody both athletic and academic ability. In addition, UBC Athletics and Recreation provides connections and accessibility to UBC sport facilities, as well as programs for Bridge Through Sport initiatives.
We recognize that cultural appropriation is an ongoing issue in today’s society and this can be a situation that arises in recreational programming. We strive to address this issue when it arises in our programs. It is important for us to produce diverse programming that offers opportunities for people to engage in physical activity, but in doing so, we would like to find a way to avoid cultural appropriation in our programs. We do our very best to educate our staff and find ways to offer programming that minimizes (and ideally avoids) any level of cultural appropriation.
Contact & Feedback Form
Should you have any questions about inclusivity or feedback about how we can make our programs more inclusive, please fill out the form below, or contact physical.activity@ubc.ca