I am not a pawn in this war and that is a powerful thought — powerful to the point that it moves me to speak. My voice is my weapon, and with it I began the Students in Solidarity letter writing campaign because I wanted all of my fellow undergraduates to know that they too have voices. We are suffering, we are being starved of an education that we paid for.
My concerns are in the arena of justice and I urge the university to take the undergraduates out of purgatory. Their actions, or lack thereof, have implications.
Students who planned on graduating this year are now having to reconsider their plans. Students who took out loans to pay for the quality education that U of T claims to offer are now wasting money they never had to begin with.
International students are suffering higher fees and cross oceans to get here in anticipation that an established, organized, and renowned institution would deliver on its promise. What is happening? We are being cheated, and that is not something I passively accept.
The Students in Solidarity letter writing campaign began as a small Facebook event that I shared among friends at U of T. With the approval and support of the CUPE 3902 outreach coordinators, I asked that everyone use their voice to write a letter to the university administration and ask for a refund. Because if you didn’t get the service you paid for, you should ask for your money back.
My vision was to make Friday, March 13 the day for students to send their emails, so that on the day the U of T administration would be bombarded with student grievances and be forced to respond.
This is a busy time of year and not everyone will have the time to construct a letter so I’ve also created a petition on change.org that students could sign in solidarity. On it is a draft letter as well as a list of administrative emails so that whenever a student signs, the administration receives a letter. The petition will be up, and the letters will be sent, until this conflict is resolved.
This is a call for action, in all aspects. It is a call for my fellow undergrads to rise up and exercise the power they hold. It is also a call for the university administration to get back to the negotiation table, and recognize CUPE 3902 Unit 1. It is a call for a refund; a call for a compromise; and most importantly, it is a call for undergraduate students to be heard.
Victoria McKenzie is a third-year student at St. Michael’s College studying comparative literature, religion, and philosophy. She is responsible for launching the Students in Solidarity letter writing campaign.
