Richard Bilkszto Obituary – Death: Toronto School Principal, Richard Bilkszto Died by Suicide

Richard Bilkszto Obituary: An Ontario principal has taken his own life amid a lawsuit with his school board after he was shamed and berated during a hostile diversity training session.

Former Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal Richard Bilkszto committed suicide this week as a result of “stress and effects” from an incident that happened in 2021 while he was taking a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for TDSB administrators.

Bilkszto said that KOJO Institute CEO and course instructor Kike Ojo-Thompson tormented him by implying that he was sympathetic to white supremacy because he believed Canada was a less racist nation than the US.

After a 24-year tenure with the TDSB, Bilkszto sued the district for failing to represent him during the DEI training. The next day, Bilkszto received additional criticism from his school board superiors for exercising “white male privilege.”

In a statement released on Thursday, Bilkszto’s family stated that the devoted principal had “succumbed to his distress.”

“With sorrow, it is announced that Richard Bilkszto passed away suddenly last Thursday, July 13 at his home in Toronto. He was 60 years of age. He leaves his distraught mother, brother, nephews, niece and many dear family and friends whose lives he touched over the years.”