From the Nominator

"The U of T Talks program is a new, virtual faculty speaker series that is designed to make the groundbreaking work of our researchers accessible to high school students from around the world. These monthly talks offer a unique opportunity for young people of all backgrounds to sample the learning experience at a top university and interact with a professor.   

U of T Talks launched with an equity, diversity, and inclusion stream to give students an opportunity to hear from thought leaders about timely topics, like the impacts of anti-Black racism, the effects of COVID-19 on marginalized communities, and how students can make change within their own communities. Today, U of T Talks continues to offer engaging lectures through a selection of program streams that showcase the diversity of expertise at the university. All of the lectures have been recorded. We now have a menu of TED-style talks for younger audiences (ages 14-17), which schools and counselors can choose to include in their curricula.   

We want to ensure that high school students, regardless of where they are, will have low-barrier access to lectures offered by our leading faculty. We are happy to say that we have achieved and surpassed this goal. The U of T Talks program has been more successful than we imagined, with individual virtual lectures attracting hundreds of registrants from around the world."

From the Judges

We loved that this entry was forward-thinking during the pandemic, realizing that enrollments may decline (as they generally have) and underscoring the importance of keeping admissions and attracting prospective students as a focal point. The program has long-term viability beyond the pandemic as a recruitment tool. The number of constituents they reached in a very tough audience (14-17 year olds) was very impressive.