UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LITERARY AND ATHLETIC SOCIETY STUDENT SUPPORT
DOCUMENT
Last Updated: 3/1/2021
A message from the President of the University College Literary & Athletic Council:
CW: harm against BIPOC
White people and the colonial institutions which they created continue to control and ignore the racism which permeates our university and national culture. It is not enough to issue statements, and it is not enough to put off our action to a later date.
We, white people, must take up the burden of responsibility and use our social and legal privilege to create a just future for BIPOC. We must become educated on the unjust judicial systems which disproportionately incarcerate, victimize, and perpetuate poverty in BIPOC. Within the institutions which welcome us with open arms but which murder, assault, and take advantage of everyone else, we must dismantle and remake in the service of BIPOC.
What follows on the first few pages of this document is information for students and community members which work directly with or benefit BIPOC, the advocacy of judicial and social change, or community engagements which do both.
The following resources were produced by BIPOC individuals to explain their lived experience for the benefit of white people. White people must respect the trauma, experiences, and pain that embeds this information, which has come from the time and space that our community members have spent teaching and educating individuals, by making good on our claims to support black, indigenous, and all other people of colour with deliberate action, mutual aid, and direct forms of resistance.
It is not enough to simply be informed, or to care. This is and has been a call to action.
Liam P. Bryant
President, UC Lit 2020-2021
CAMPUS-SPECIFIC RESOURCES
- Leap UofT’s Resource Compilation Post and Call for Redistribution of Fees to BIPOC Groups
- COVID-19 and Race in Toronto: A Reader
- An overview of the topic compiled by the moderators and admins of UofT Memes for True Blue Teens
MOVEMENT/GROUP-SPECIFIC EXTERNAL RESOURCES
- General information, toolkits, and resources from Black Lives Matter
- General resource list for supporting BIPOC through donations, advocacy, and outreach via The Leap
- A Carrd site of concentrated BLM resources
- SayTheirName Project
- A list of every Black person killed by police in the United States by year
MEDIA AND EDUCATION
- Virtual and Video Resources
- Desmon Cole’s video on police funding and municipal social responsibility
- Two videos which focus on highlighting black artists and creators and content which addresses police brutality, anti-Black traditions in the US and Canada, as well as institutional racism
- The first video is donating all of their proceeds to BLM and partner organizations, while the second is focusing its proceeds on the NAACP.
- Credit to pivotlegal.org
- Credit to Amnesty International, an NGO watchdog of human rights abuses
- Instagram of Austin Channing, who curates her Instagram with information and resources for learning about and challenging racism
- Instagram of Black Girl Mixtape, a platform for “decolonizing authority” written for and by Black womxn.
- “87 Ways you Can Help”, an introductory post for white and non-Black people to engage with racism and police brutality
- A compiled list of historical accounts of racism in early Canada and their effects on modern Canadian society
- Investigates the invisibility of BIPOC racism within Canadian society and within its social discourse
- NPR’s podcast on racial identity, politics, and activism
- A podcast dealing with the realities of living in prison, the prison industries, and institutionalized policing
- From their website, “a lively multiracial, interracial conversation about the ways we can’t talk, don’t talk, would rather not talk, but intermittently, fitfully, embarrassingly do talk about culture, identity, politics, power, and privilege in our pre-post-yet-still-very-racial America”
- Put simply by them, “non-profit journalism about criminal justice”
- Physical and Library Resources
- This fantastic Google Sheet of free books and articles for combating racism and learning about antiracist action
- The End of Police by Alex S. Vitale
- Available as a free e-book. From the website, “This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety”
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
- One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson
- Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
- Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
- They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
- Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- This compilation by Anti-Racist Book Club, which can be found here.
Thank you to Leap U of T and SMSCU for providing resources for this list.
If you have any questions, concerns or additional resources to be added on to this document, please feel free to contact us via our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/universitycollegelit/ or Instagram (@uclit_uoft).
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
1. Emergency Undergraduate Grant for “needs associated with an educational program and unexpected costs incurred by students as a direct result of COVID-19. Expenses that may be considered include living costs, travel home, moving costs, and other exceptional needs.”
Link: https://future.utoronto.ca/finances/financial-aid/emergency-assistance-grants/
2. UTSU Bursaries and Grants for a variety of needs.
Link: https://www.utsu.ca/financial-assistance/
3. Employment Insurance through the Government of Canada
Link: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html
4. Emergency Response Benefit through the Government of Canada
Link:https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/covid19-individuals.html
5. ASSU Emergency Fund for "current full-time, Arts & Science U of T undergraduate domestic and international students impacted by COVID-19 and who need immediate short-term financial relief because of unexpected expenses. The grant amount is $250."
Link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexzqcY11YB2fUf2rKFFocE_thXecEAlcdfO3JQ7wiCuupzPg/viewform
6. You can also email the UC Registrar for any other specific needs that are not covered by one of the aforementioned bursaries or grants at uc.registrar@utoronto.ca
MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS RESOURCES
My Student Support Program (MySSP) provides University of Toronto students with immediate and/or ongoing confidential, 24-hour support for any school, health, or general life concern at no cost to students. You can call or chat with a counsellor directly from your phone whenever, wherever you are for a range of concerns. Students who use MySSP still have access to existing campus and community mental health services; MySSP is an additional support service.
Download the MySSP app: Apple App Store | Google Play and keep reading so that you understand what to expect.
You can also access the service 24/7 by calling 1-844-451-9700. Outside of North America, call 001-416-380-6578.
MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS RESOURCES CONT’D
Note:
The resources which follow are not affiliated with the University of Toronto, but are mental health resources (either online as a temporary measure during the pandemic, or typically) which students can access using their coverage by the University Health Insurance Plan, OHIP, or with private insurance. They are notably low-cost mental health services in and around the GTA. If a service is geared towards a certain age range, gender, ethnicity, or some other group identity, it will be noted.
Some services require an appointment, and others have ‘walk-ins’ available.
The University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) administered by the UTSU is covering virtual appointments made by healthcare practitioners which the plan covers. Please read about it in their COVD-19 update here.
The UHIP covers up to fifteen (15) sessions in a policy year (Sept. 1, 2019 – Aug. 31, 2020; Sept. 1 2020 – Aug. 31st 2021), up to $100 a session. Any counsellor is qualified to be covered by UHIP within these limits so long as they hold either a MSW (Master’s of Social Work) or are a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical counsellor, or both. This information can be found on the practitioner’s website or through contacting their office.
If you have undergone a counselling session in the above policy year, you can still submit your claims to Desjardins; get in touch if you need help below. The new policy year went into effect on September 1st, 2020, renewing the fifteen (15) sessions and coverage provided by UHIP.
Additionally, the Studentcare Psychology Network offers video appointments through the PsyVitalitï partnership, which has a reduced cost in addition to UHIP coverage; both apply.
All of the information in the above paragraph can be found here.
For information on how to make your insurance claim for these appointments, visit here, or contact the UCLit here for tips on making your claim.
Services which may accept UHIP coverage include:
Cost: $40-$70/session (billed monthly)
Cost: $40-$70/session (billed monthly)
Cost: starts at $39.96/week (including 20% discount first month)
Cost: Starts at $65/week
Cost: sliding scale, $50-$80/session
Cost: Free, several options available at varying times.
Cost: Free
Call the phone number provided on the location’s website for a phone session.
May have age restrictions for youth depending on the site (i.e., some end at 24, some up to 29). Call to confirm.
Additional Hotlines for Specific Communities
Kids Help Phone (24/7 counselling support Canada-wide)
Phone: 1-800-668-6868
Text: text CONNECT to 686868
Online chat: https://kidshelpphone.ca/live-chat/
Trans Lifeline (peer support by and for trans people)
Phone: 1-877-330-6366 (10am-4am EST)
LGBT YouthLine (peer support for LGBTTQQ2SI+ youth)
Text: 647-694-4275 (4-9:30pm Sun-Fri)
Online chat: https://www.youthline.ca/ (4-9:30pm Sun-Fri)
These resources courtesy of (and compiled by) Toronto CareMongering user Emily Anne.
ACADEMIC RESOURCES
For any and all questions about the current term, contact the college registrar. They can provide academic counselling, assistance, and work with your professors/courses to accommodate you in this extenuating circumstance. The registrar’s office is providing support exclusively through phone and email at this time.
uc.registrar@utoronto.ca --- 416-978-3170
Hours of Operation
Monday: 9:30 am - 4:15 pm
Tuesday: 10 am - 4:15 pm
Wednesday: 9:30 am - 4:15 pm
Thursday: 9:30 am - 4:15 pm
Friday: 9:30 am - 4:15 pm
Daily closure from 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm. (lunch)