Statement regarding the escalating situation in Iran

​A message from Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem, UBC Vancouver; Rehan Sadiq, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem, UBC Okanagan; Marcia Buchholz, Vice-President, Human Resources

On behalf of the University of British Columbia, we wish to express our concern about the unfolding situation in Iran in response to the tragic death of Mahsa Amini.

UBC stands with the courageous women of Iran, and all who seek to protect their human rights and freedoms and stand up against repression and discrimination. We acknowledge the trauma and distress that members of our community may be experiencing in response to the situation in Iran, and would like to emphasize the UBC supports available to anyone who may be impacted.

For faculty and staff, all mental health resources can be found on the HR website: https://hr.ubc.ca/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health. This provides access to UBC’s Extended Health Benefits Plan, and our Employee and Family Assistance Program, which is a confidential and voluntary resource providing professional and emergency counselling services and additional support via phone, video, web or mobile app.

For students, our UBC Students Assistance Program is a free, 24/7 confidential wellness resource, including crisis, grief, and trauma counseling:

A variety of health and wellbeing resources, services and programming is also available to UBC Vancouver students at https://students.ubc.ca/health and to UBC Okanagan students at https://students.ok.ubc.ca/health-wellness/.

Peaceful protests are at the heart of advocating for human rights and freedoms, and UBC echoes the message of bringing an end to violence against women.


Read the original statement via the Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic