The University of Windsor, along with the Black History Black Futures Working Group, will join Canada and the world in honouring Black History Month with a flag-raising ceremony at the centre of main campus Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The University community is invited to attend the event, intended to recognize, honour, and celebrate the significant contributions of people of the African Diaspora in Canada and worldwide to science and technology, arts and entertainment, education and scholarship, and more.

The ceremony will begin at 12:15 p.m. outside the west side of Chrysler Hall Tower. Speakers will include Clinton Beckford, vice-president, equity, diversity and inclusion; Marium Tolson-Murtty, director, anti-racism organizational change; and Kaitlyn Ellsworth, Black student support co-ordinator.

The event will be followed by a reception in room 115, Dillon Hall, where attendees can learn more about Black History Month events on campus and in the community.

A new academic journal exploring the complexity of racial oppression and its intersections with gender, class, sexuality, disability, age, language, and religion is now accepting submissions.

The Journal of Critical Race, Indigeneity, and Decolonization — sponsored by the UWindsor Office of the Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion — is peer-reviewed, open access, and published electronically twice a year. It aims to be a catalyst for international research that highlights exemplary praxis and intellectual thought that can inform and transform postsecondary education institutions.

Managing editor Naved Bakali, an assistant professor of anti-racism education in the Faculty of Education, and executive editors Rebecca Major, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, and James Oloo, an assistant professor in educational administration, policy, and leadership in the Faculty of Education, welcome papers from interdisciplinary academic disciplines in critical race studies; Black studies; Indigenous studies; women, gender, and sexuality studies; Latin American studies; and diaspora studies.

Find more information on the journal, its scope and focus, and submission processes on its website.

Following a competitive search process, Krista Devine will take up an appointment as university counsel and chief legal officer, effective March 6. Reporting to the president, Devine will oversee the existing legal services team, as a result of re-organization, and work with senior leadership on a range of legal considerations. She will also manage the University’s relationship and strategy with external law firms.

Devine comes to the University from the Public Service Alliance of Canada after serving in various legal roles since 2006, most recently as general counsel of the Executive Office Branch. She brings over two decades of leading organizational legal portfolios and social justice to the role having worked closely with non-profit organizations and unions in Canada and the United States. Devine is a two-time UWindsor alumna, having obtained her Bachelor of Laws from Windsor Law in 1996 and her Master of Arts degree in political science in 1999. Devine also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia University.

President Robert Gordon said he is delighted to welcome Devine to the University of Windsor community and credits the search committee for the impressive selection.

“Krista’s experience will transfer well to this role to further the University’s academic mission and institutional sustainability,” he said. “Universities across the country have been challenged by the increasingly complex post-secondary legal landscape, and I am thrilled that the search committee was able to identify an exceptional candidate for the role with a depth of leadership in contractual, labour, and human rights law and a people-focused approach to legal practice.”

For her part, Devine said she is “delighted” to join Richard Taylor, director of legal services, and the entire legal services team.

“I have been so impressed by the warm and thoughtful welcome I have received returning to Windsor,” she said. “I am excited by this opportunity to use my skills and experience to help support the leadership and broader community, to be part of building a progressive and dynamic University.”

Preparation of T4 slips for the 2022 tax year has begun, and Human Resources requests that all faculty, staff, and students employed on campus ensure their mailing addresses are current and accurate on the myUWinfo site.

Take a moment to log in to myUWinfo to confirm that it reflects your current address, or update it as well as your emergency contact listings.

Note: Address changes should be completed by Feb. 9 to ensure the correct address on 2022 tax forms.

Facility Services advises that Key Control will close on Thursdays for the month of February.

Its offices at 2601 Union St. will not operate Feb. 2, 9, 15, and 23. For more information, contact keys@uwindsor.ca.