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Scholar Strike: Staff, students hit pause on learning to push for racial justice

Two city universities encouraging faculty and students to take part
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(Adobe Stock)

Just as things are getting started this fall at for post-secondary institutions and students, some are starting their first week back by hitting the pause button on Learning.

Professors and students at a number of institutions — including Laurentian University and Huntington University, both in Sudbury — are staging a two-day strike Wednesday and Thursday to protest racism.

Classes for the fall officially started this week with a virtual Zoom academic day Tuesday at Laurentian. A small number of students are living in residence on campus with most classes being offered remotely.

Plans are still being finalized regarding activities at Laurentian for the Scholar Strike, said Amélie Hien, a professor of French studies at Laurentian. She noted faculty are particularly busy at the start of the school year.

The Scholar Strike, organized on university campuses throughout the country by professors, support staff and students, is a protest against racism and police violence toward members of the Black community and communities of colour. It was initiated by University of Pennsylvania African studies professor Anthea Butler. Inspired by the strike NBA players, she put out a tweet calling for a similar labour action from academics.

The national organizers are planning digital teach-ins that will bring together activists, artists and

scholars from various post-secondary schools. 

University president Robert Haché is in support of the action and is encouraging students to take part.

In a statement, Haché said, “We encourage students to join the Laurentian professors in the Scholar Strike. As I reminded the Laurentian community earlier this year: our broader

communities need us to take action, to be leaders, and to do more than we have done before. Our community is absolutely capable of affecting change.”

Huntington U. president and vice-chancellor Kevin McCormick also issued a statement on the Scholar Strike, saying the school would support all staff and students who wish to take part in the event.

“We applaud the united voices of scholars, from institutions of higher learning across Canada, who will participate in Scholar Strike Canada on September 9 and 10,” he wrote. “Huntington University is committed to creating a safe space for learning and working, and an inclusive environment, for all members of our community. I would like to advise all faculty, staff and students that they are both welcomed and supported, should they wish to participate in Scholar Strike Canada.”

Faculty and instructors are asked to communicate class changes to students with as much advance notice as possible.

Jean-Charles Cachon, a member of the Laurentian University Faculty Association executive, is one of many academics who has signed the Scholar Strike manifesto issued by national organizers.

The manifesto reads in part, “As Canadian scholars, we cannot ignore the anti-Black and anti-Indigenous police brutality and violence that continue to destroy the lives of Black, Indigenous and racialized peoples. Many of the Black, Indigenous and racialized academics who work in Canadian universities are precariously employed; hired on only part-time or short-term contracts. The few that have been hired into full-time faculty and staff positions have found it difficult to remain in those jobs. They have either been fired or laid off because of institutional racism and other forms of violence in the university.”

The Scholar Strike supporters demand “defunding the police and redistributing those resources to Black, Indigenous, racialized, queer and trans communities for the creation of sustainable and healthy communities.” 

Cachon, a professor in the Marketing and Management department, plans to hold information sessions for his students. The Faculty of Management hosts 30 per cent of all foreign students at Laurentian, including many from various African countries, he said.

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Vicki Gilhula is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter at Sudbury.com.


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Vicki Gilhula, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

About the Author: Vicki Gilhula, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Vicki Gilhula is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter at Sudbury.com.
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