Stakeholders
Office of the Vice-President, Students, St. John’s College, Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) at UBC, UBC Department of History, Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (ACRE), UBC Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force
Leadership Communication
Ainsley Carry, Vice-President, Students; Dr. Henry Yu, UBC Department of History
Timing
May-December 2023
Summary
UBC worked to curate an exhibition at the Chinese Canadian Museum about the anniversary and sponsor three events: a June 23 satellite viewing at UBC Vancouver of a National Remembrance Event held in the Senate chambers in Ottawa, a June 26, 2023 discussion with the museum curator and a September national symposium to raise awareness of this dark chapter in Canadian history.
The Strategy
July 1, 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada. UBC worked to curate an exhibition at the Chinese Canadian Museum about the anniversary and sponsor three events: a June 23 satellite viewing at UBC Vancouver of a National Remembrance Event held in the Senate chambers in Ottawa, a June 26 discussion with the museum curator and a September national symposium to raise awareness of this dark chapter in Canadian history. This programming is aligned with the recommendations of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force and is a result of many years of work and engagement by faculty, students and staff across different areas of study.
The September 9, 2023 symposium highlighted the backstory of the Chinese exclusion act. This was a joint initiative between UBC’s Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC), as part of the Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (ACRE), and partnered with University of Toronto and University of Victoria
The goals were to:
– Raise awareness and increase education about the Chinese Exclusion Act to help combat anti-Asian Racism and carry out recommendations of ARIE Task Force
– Raise awareness of the exhibit opening at the Chinese Canadian Museum and UBC’s role
– Raise awareness and drive attendance to the satellite viewing event
– Promote dialogue and engagement around anti-Asian racism
– Raise awareness and drive traffic to the online symposium
The Solution
– Brand and Marketing created an education story “What was the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada? 3 things you might not know” [ link to story title > https://beyond.ubc.ca/what-was-the-chinese-exclusion-act-in-canada-3-things-you-might-not-know/ ]aimed at the general public. Goal was to give a brief, digestible overview and links to learn more
– Brand and Marketing created social media assets, including ads for paid social media and a video ree, to raise awareness within the general public on both paid and organic social media
– Brand and Marketing co-produced the satellite viewing event held at the Alumni Centre, including promotional materials including digital signage
– Media Relations released an Expert Advisory timed for the July 1 anniversary and pitched the story to media (results should be on spreadsheet)
The Results
– Social media results – 789,639 impressions, 23,660 engagements, 14,329 link clicks, 112,721 video views
– General Sentiment – Evoked a lot of emotion from people; “Thanks for educating us. Knowledge is power.”
– Website page views – 19,042
– Viewing event was the only one in BC and UBC received a direct mention of this in the Senate chamber
– Internal shares – EIO, VPS, Alumni, HR
– Stakeholder feedback
– Media hits – 4, including site visit to viewing event
– SEO – 10 x Page One keyword rankings
– Met short timeline: we found out about it May 26 to support an event on June 26, a month later.