Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) continues to be a priority for the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU). At the last board meeting, the union passed a motion to strike an EDI working group for the 2023-24 academic year.

Motion 0569, brought to table during the June 8 meeting, designates a group “to serve as a safe space for members of designated UMSU communities to discuss the subject of equity, diversity and inclusion.” UMSU president Tracy Karuhogo and the rest of the executive team described the need to “prioritize the level of engagement, success and opportunity available to marginalized members of the university community” within the language of the motion.

The group’s voting body will be composed of the UMSU Indigenous representative, women’s representative, 2SLGBTQIA+ representative, Black student representative, international student representative, accessibility representative, racialized representative and three self-identifying students belonging to a marginalized community selected through an application process.

The working group will be tasked with bringing concerns regarding EDI on campus and within student groups to the university in order to make suggestions on how to address these issues in the future.

Motion 0569 passed without opposition and the group has been struck for the year.

This EDI working group is not the first of its kind. In years past, striking the group has been moved by the executive committee. The group was also struck during the 2020-2021 year, with similar goals.