Dear King’s Community,
I am thrilled to announce two very important appointments at King’s. Karen Mutyabule has accepted the role of Director of Equity and Community Supports.
We were searching for—and have found in Karen—the right person to help us move forward in our work to make King’s more welcoming to everyone in accordance with my mandate, our commitments to the Scarborough Charter, our growing partnerships with the Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities, our membership in Universities Canada, the alignment priorities we are now accountable for achieving to the province, and the promise we are making to the world through Welcoming: The Future King’s campaign.
Karen joins us with an impressive background and a strongly demonstrated commitment to equity work. I felt especially confident in offering her the job after asking her why she would leave a senior position in the Department of Health to come work at King’s. She had a one-word answer that I loved: “students.”
Karen comes to us with close to a decade of experience in advancing equity, inclusion and systems change in public and not-for-profit sector settings, including through her work with the Government of Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness as Health Equity Advisor and Manager of Employee and Public Engagement.
In her new role, Karen will be a member of the senior administrative team. As per recent changes to the Blue Book, she will be an Officer of the College and participate in Board meetings as a guest of the Board, like other college officers. To have the “equity voice” directly represented in these forums is significant and adds another dimension to the ways in which King’s does not simply follow on equity but leads.
Three key community support positions that previously reported to me will now report to Karen. They include the Sexual Health & Safety Officer, the Accessibility Officer, Michelle Mahoney, and the Indigenous Support & Outreach Coordinator Emily Pictou-Roberts. The Student Support Advisor, Isaac Wright, will also report to Karen, creating new opportunities and synergies across that team.
Karen’s focus will be leading and supporting the team and leading the development of a new equity policy and the action plan we are required to develop under the Scarborough Charter. She will of course also be offering support to members of the community in equity matters. We will however be making greater use of external resources where equity-related investigations are required, following the pattern set for how we handle investigations under the Sexualized Violence Awareness, Prevention and Response Policy.
I want to thank Pethrona Russell for her work as our Interim Equity Officer for almost the last two years. Pethrona has done amazing and essential work in that role, all in addition to her excellent work in her continuing role as the Manager of Human Resources. Her willingness to step up the College needed her is something I deeply appreciate. From working so closely with Pethrona, I know she will continue to be active in significantly contributing to our equity work. This will include another role she has agreed to take on in supporting African Nova Scotian and Black students.
Our second new hire, King’s alum Miriam MacQuarrie, will report to Karen in her new role as Interim Sexual Health and Safety Officer. While we search for a successor to Jordan Roberts through a full process, it is crucial to have an officer in place, to maintain the momentum we’ve achieved in prioritizing the sexual health and safety of our community in the past nine years. These efforts have gone a long way to reestablishing and building student trust in the university, something that Miriam herself expressed eloquently when she was a student representative on the Board. Her appointment to this role was confidently supported by Jordan (who mentored her), by Jordan’s counterpart at Acadia (for whom Miriam worked after graduation) and by Miriam’s thesis supervisor at the University of Edinburgh, where Miriam is completing a thesis on sexual health and safety in universities. In addition, Miriam sparkled with knowledge, commitment and wisdom beyond her years when interviewed by me, Kutay Ulkuer and Ellie Anderson.
Karen’s first day at King’s is August 25, and Miriam will join the team on September 1—please help me extend a very warm welcome to them both.
Sincerely,
William Lahey
President and Vice-Chancellor
