After decades of student pressure, dozens of universities across the continent have pledged to take portions of their investment funds out of fossil fuels. As of 2019, UBC is one of them.
As students, we are taught that academic work, especially historical work, needs to be objective. After reflecting on some work by Indigenous feminist scholar Dian Million, I have learned that students tend to view anger within academic writing as reductive.
UBC needs to act in providing secure and affordable housing options to students living on campus. An exorbitant percentage price hike not only negates the security that the university owes to students paying incredibly high tuition, but also rings alarm bells. And when you add this rent hike into the mix amid a very prevalent housing crisis that has taken BC residents by storm, you don’t get a very pleasant outcome.
Keeping kosher has been one of my greatest personal, physical and spiritual challenges so far in my life. As one representing hundreds of Jewish UBC students, I believe there needs to be more access to kosher food on campus.
We elect these students and we, at the very least, should be afforded transparency in how our student society is managed.
I saw them exchange glances and judgements as we spoke. As my friends and I broke down standing at the back of the room and among the councilors, some council members were smirking. I thought to myself, what is bringing them joy in this moment? Is it our fear? Our ability to risk our lives by speaking up and exposing ourselves to the council? Or is it their fear?
This violence has been normalized by UBC for decades. It seems that nearly every year, recurring instances of sexual assault and harassment emerge from our university.
“Isn’t the weather beautiful? I can’t believe it’s not raining. It’s like, who did this?” The answer is, no, the weather is not nice. And the climate crisis did this.
Dispelling the big myth about the arts degree and highlighting its importance in a changing world.
The AMS has acted on the letter of its commitment, but not the spirit — your tuition is still being used to trade your future for short-term profit by supporting RBC, Canada’s largest fossil fuel financier.
While many students went along with their days without a care in the world about this news or shared memes mocking the Queen’s demise, I continued through my day with quiet melancholy.
With the return to full in-person classes, some professors may feel there is no need to record lectures anymore. However, the benefits of recording lectures outweigh the drawbacks for students and professors, making the need for accessibility more necessary to modernize post-secondary education.
I joined the Divestment Coalition as a representative of the Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Vancouver Youth Bloc. Working alongside more than 20 organizations and student groups, I had the opportunity to share my perspective as a member of the anti-Zionist Jewish community and speak to the multiplicity of Jewish voices that oppose the Israeli state’s system of apartheid and occupation of Palestine.
Every day SASC chooses not to engage with Jewish and Israeli lived experiences and trauma caused by the conflict is another day Jewish survivors of sexualized violence like myself must ask whether our trauma and survival will be treated with the same dignity and respect as our peers.
