The future we choose The future

We are home, and the future is now.

The first day of the 2022-23 school year felt like a pivotal moment in the history of UTS, a culmination of all we had achieved together and the beginning of our future. Morning light illuminated the doors of our renewed home at 371 Bloor Street West, as they opened to welcome students and staff – exhilaration and excitement in the air. For the first time, we started the new school year in our beautiful new home, with state-of-the-art facilities in place to support all the dreams and ambitions of our students.

Our Affiliation Agreement with the University of Toronto was secure and our partnerships across the University were thriving. The pandemic no longer interfered with day-to-day-school life. It was a testament to the strength and generosity of the UTS community that we raised $63 million to build this future that will serve as a home for many future generations of UTS students.

This would be our year to really settle in to make the school our own and see all that we could accomplish together when we have the world-class space and quality of facilities to open doors and minds.

A few weeks later, we opened our school doors even wider, welcoming home over 1,000 alumni from across the country and even around the world, along with parents, staff and community members to collectively celebrate our new school, with UTS Homecoming being the first major UTS community event held in our new Withrow Auditorium . There were Taiko drums, celebratory speeches, the old blending with the new, and a powerful sense of community. We are better together.

Our work on equity is crucial for our school

Education is a journey that never ends. There is always more to learn. Now that we have the foundation for our future, our deeper work on equity is taking root.

Our collective efforts on anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion are so critical for the school. We need to constantly challenge our own stereotypes and biases and think about what it would mean for everyone to truly feel included at UTS. The 2022-23 school year was the first where equity became embedded into the senior leadership of our school, with the new role of coordinating vice principal, anti-racism, equity, inclusion, access and program innovation. Dr. Kimberley Tavares took on this role in summer 2022, building on our equity work with a goal of fostering a greater culture of inclusion at our school.

Under Kim’s leadership, equity became a mindset, ingrained into all that we do as a school. We took the time to do the work. Professional Development sessions gave staff a deeper understanding of the issues, and a greater empathy for our differences. Departments set tangible goals, and began to work toward them. We began the challenging work of change and the journey continues.

Stronger U of T partnerships

This year, we continued to strengthen our partnerships with U of T , our foremost ally in education. Our strategic location on the U of T campus facilitates dynamic collaborations with worldclass educational institutions, including the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), t he Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Rotman School of Management and others.

Staying the course

For the first time in over a decade, everything is in place for our school and now UTS can focus on what we do best: instilling students with a love of learning and the drive to lead as socially responsible global citizens. With that, the time has come to enter the next chapter of our history. Having done so much to bring us home, the illustrious Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 , retired in December after 10 years as chair of the UTS Board. I followed suit in July. Working with the UTS community has been a wonderful experience, and I leave knowing UTS is ready to embrace the future. The school has a home, we are in a good place and we have a vision and the steady hands of incoming principal Dr. Leanne Foster to guide us. Now it is time to steer our course towards the future we choose , and continue the work to realize our vision of a truly inclusive culture at UTS, one where everyone thrives.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honour of serving as your principal. It has truly been a wonderful and extraordinary learning experience.

Rosemary Evans UTS Principal