Minutes for the Friday Meeting + Our Next Steps
Thank you to all who came out to support our movement and contribute to meaningful conversations.
We want to first thank Dotun Olutoke for his hard work and dedication to supporting students of African Descent. His contributions will not go unnoticed.
While this issue is what sparked the start of this movement, it is just one small part of the larger issue. The disregard that Acadia has for the welfare Black students, faculty and employees can no longer be ignored. The lack of transparency from the university about certain issues as well as the deficit in funding and support for Black students needs to be addressed. The goal of this meeting was to centre the voices and experiences of Black students while highlighting other prevalent issues on campus.
In the meeting, we opened the floor to students to address other issues they have been facing including the lack of support for Indigenous students, the restrictive policies surrounding Chartwells and food on campus, the lack of transparency surrounding the Protest Policy and much more.
After this conversation we were able to establish goals for the Acadia administrators to meet that would adequately address these issues as well as encourage meaningful conversation between administrators and students. These final goals will be included in the petition attached to this message.
We also discussed the details for a campaign and show of solidarity to enable sustained focus and conversation of the goals. One of the elements of this campaign would be a walkout and public demonstration to be held on Wednesday 29th January from 10:30am – 1:30pm. The location to demonstrate would be University Hall, we will walk to main street then through the BAC and SUB and return to University Hall to hear testimonials from students. This plan is pending the weather of the proposed day.
We ask that everyone in attendance wear black, red orange to show unity for our cause. Additionally, some participants would be tasked to circulate QR codes across the campus that would link to the petition, detailing the goals of our campaign.
Moving Forward
The Petition
-It will be linked below
-This is where you will find the goals we are trying to accomplish with this campaign
-Please read, sign, and share the petition!
The Campaign
-Wednesday 29th of January
-Walk out begins at 10:30 and we will meet at University Hall
-Wear black, red, or orange
-If you are interested in helping make signs join us in the SUB on Monday and Tuesday at 6pm! Please look out for more information regarding this movement.
Thank you again to all who participated! I hope to see all of you on Wednesday!
Please be aware that we must abide by the Protest Policy. Any behavior that does not align with our goals will not be tolerated.
