Advice and guidelines for supporting the university community

Nov. 15, 2023
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The need to hold space, provide support and facilitate difficult conversations is crucial to our mission as a university. At the same time, we must prioritize the psychological and physical safety and well-being of our community.

We strongly encourage event organizers to connect with Laurier resources including Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management (SHERM), Special Constable Service (SCS), the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Student Affairs for consultation.

These offices can help determine what sort of support or guidance may be needed depending on the nature of the event. Event organizers — even those with significant organizing experience — should be aware that they may benefit from consulting university specialty areas with requisite training in designing safety protocols, ensuring accessibility, and providing expertise in mediation, de-escalation, and trauma-informed care.

Specifically, organizers should seek support for each stage of an event, from planning, implementation, post-event debriefing, and advancing long-term goals consistent with equity, diversity and inclusion. To ensure we have a consistent approach across the university, we wish to remind you of Laurier’s guidelines for event planning:

  • Event organizers must complete the Campus Event Planning Risk Management Checklist at least two weeks in advance of the event. This checklist has been developed to conduct a basic event risk assessment to ensure proper safety measures are in place to minimize any risks.
  • After completing the checklist, organizers will meet with members of SHERM, SCS, and other Laurier departments (i.e., Dean of Students Office; Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion), as necessary, to ensure that organizers are prepared and that safety is prioritized throughout the event.
  • Laurier upholds a fundamental commitment to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly for all its members. Anyone planning an event can find policies, guidance, general principles and goals on the Freedom of Expression webpage.
  • If any issues are brought to your attention that may fall within the scope of the Discrimination and Harassment Policy, please contact the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management for support.

Resources

We also recommend that event organizers refer participants to resources for the Laurier community: