Last month, the Centre for Women and Trans People at U of T got a harsh refresher course on how precarious the life of a campus group really is.
On Dec. 13, an unknown looter broke into the Centre’s office at 563 Spadina and stole one of their few computers, which contained crucial data they need to continue their work.
That work includes speaking out on behalf of women and trans folk, operating the Dr. Chun Resource Library (together with OPIRG), and keeping the doors of the Centre itself open to students who want information, support, or just a safe, prejudice-free space to hang out.
The impact of the stolen equipment has already been felt-the Centre’s weekly e-newsletter has not been distributed since the theft. The group sent a message last week asking that the computer be returned, no questions asked.
The case illustrates the delicate balance that campus groups often have to strike simply in order to stay alive. And the Centre is a group that gets a student levy-others, like the younger organization BikeChain, are not as fortunate.
Last semester, BikeChain lost a SAC-assisted levy campaign to procure a measly 25 cents per full-time student to support their free, on-campus bike-repair service and bike maintenance education programs-because not enough votes were cast. Without the steady source of income that a levy provides, BikeChain’s mission to make U of T less car-dependent is a mere shadow of what it could be.
Yet another sob story of unnecessary neglect: Radical Roots, U of T’s only vegan, not-for-profit, locally-sourced eatery closed last year when the International Students Centre refused to renew their contract. The last word on the closure of the hub for nutritious $5 lunches came from former manager Agata Durkalec, who says they were done in by an insensitive ISC admin who demanded the unpaid, student-run kitchen navigate bureaucratic regs in order to stay. When they couldn’t do it in the allotted time, the plug got pulled.
The blows dealt to these groups are a disservice to the entire campus. Frustratingly, it’s impossible to come up with a one-size-fits-all prescription to keep small organizations from falling through the cracks. U of T wants its diverse needs met by a vast array of niche groups, but it lacks the cash, and the will, to support them all.
While Radical Roots could clearly have benefited from some kind of workshop from University Affairs to help student businesses with planning-not to mention some admin with brains-it seems the other two groups were hit by poor facilities and poor mobilization. We-students and administrators alike-need to give campus groups the support they need to stay on an even footing. Left to walk the tightrope of daily operation on their own, they, and the services they offer, haven’t got a chance.
