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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2021
News
NEWS DIRECTOR YASMEEN ALMOMANI news@thecord.ca
NEWS EDITOR VICTORIA MORGAN news@thecord.ca
Top stories of the summer
Part 1 & 2: inequity at the board table In a two-part investigative series, The Cord’s Editor-in-Chief, Emily Waitson, explored the resignations of three former directors from the Students’ Union Board of Directors. Fiza Iqbal, Muna Mohamed and Kianna Low-A-Chee. The three former directors alleged issues related to director conduct and a lack of equity, diversity and inclusion training resulted in their decisisions to each resign from the board. The Students’ Union conducted an internal review and the recommendations included the facilitation of equity, diversity and inclusion training, leadership training for both the chair and vice-chair of the board, as well as ensuring board members are aware of available resources to address concerns.
deborah maclatchy appointed for second term as president Deborah MacLatchy began her first term as the president and vice-chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in 2017. She was recently appointed for a second term from July 2022 to June 2027 by the university’s board of directors. A recent achievement on the behalf of Laurier that she spoke to was the provincial approval of adding Milton to the university campus. She is dedicated to growing the Laurier community and hopes to increase the student population at the Brantford campus from 3000 to 5000 students. MacLatchy said she hopes to continue focusing on Laurier’s equity, diversity and inclusion practices.
vaccines required to return to campus Wilfrid Laurier University announced on Aug. 13 that they will require all students, staff and faculty to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Laurier joined a growing list of universities who have made the decision to require vaccinations to return to their campuses that include York University, The University of Toronto, among others. As of Sept. 7, Laurier community members will be required to confirm their vaccination status in advance of attending the Brantford or Waterloo campuses, or other locations, including in Kitchener, Toronto and Milton. Students who have not been vaccinated will be required to commit to regular COVID-19 testing and receive negative results before attending campus.
hundreds attend anti-lockdown protest in waterloo
laurier to hire more bipoc faculty members
Waterloo Town Square saw hundreds of anti-lockdown protestors gather on the afternoon of June 6 to condemn face mask-wearing, COVID-19 health protocols instilled by the government and local business closures. A number of speakers were present at the event — which was advertised as the “True North Freedom Assembly” — including People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier; Kevin Dupuis, who is now the People’s Party of Canada candidate for Kitchener-Conestoga; and University of Waterloo chemistry professor Michael Palmer. The protest took place during the wake of mounting concerns regarding cases linked to the COVID-19 variant, B1617.
Laurier made an announcement in May that it’s making a commitment to hiring “no less than six new Indigenous faculty members and six Black faculty members.” The hiring strategy is part of the “Inclusive Excellence” initiative which aims to build on the university’s plans for diversity and inclusion. Faculty scholarship will follow the six themes outlined in Laurier’s Strategic Plan: “environments and sustainability; psychological and social determinants of health and well-being; governance and policy; Indigeneity, decolonization, equity, diversity and inclusion; business, technology and inno vation; and society, culture and community.” Positions will be posted in September.
win prizes, welcome kits of Laurier merchandise, and campus tours. The welcome kits also contain important information about services and resources on campus, and this time will be the only early opportunity for a campus tour as the welcome centres will be closed until the end of September. There will be tailgate parties on Sept. 3 in the Quad at the Waterloo campus, and on Sept. 4 in the courtyard at Brantford, with games, live music, food, and drinks for students to enjoy. Kelly plans to follow this kickoff weekend with many events and opportunities throughout September. “[We’re doing] trivia nights, movie nights and a headphone disco. There will also be academic programming, so, faculty mixers, study groups, designated study space for second-year students on each campus, which will be exclusive access for just them, and then a bunch of different social programming and academic programming all through the fall semester,” she said. This program is essential for students as we return to a new normal on campus this year. “We’ve been getting a lot of emails forwarded to us from other departments of students asking if there will be orientation activities or any opportunities like orientation week offered to second-year students, so I think a lot of students
want this programming, they just don’t know that it’s happening.” Kelly is passionate about giving students the experience they should have had during their first year.
CAMPUS missed out on last year. Even if they were living in residence, they were still confined to their own dorm room,” Devyn Kelly, Laurier 201 coordinator, said. The program has many campus partnerships which include sustainability, the Students Union, athletics, and wellness. “[Laurier 201 aims to] help orient and welcome second-year students to campus since they missed out on a lot of the traditional first-year experiences due to the pandemic and the remote learning environment,” Kelly said.
FILE PHOTO/EMILY WAITSON
Laurier 201 supports second-year students YASMEEN ALMOMANI NEWS DIRECTOR
The start of the pandemic was a taxing time for Laurier students who had to quickly adapt to a new online schooling experience. Incoming Golden Hawks were especially impacted as they did not have the first-year experience that sets up the subsequent years of
their time at university. This is what prompted the launch of Laurier 201, a brand new, exclusive campus-wide program dedicated to these (now second-year) students to experience what they could not before. “This program was designed to literally show students campus and to create opportunities for social connection that they would have
[Laurier 201 aims to] help and orient and welcome second-year students to campus ...
- Devyn Kelly, Laurier 201 coordinator
It officially begins with a kickoff weekend on Sept. 3 and 4 on the Waterloo campus, and Sept. 4 on the Brantford campus. This will be comprised of icebreaking activities, upper-year student mentors, opportunities to
[We’re doing] trivia nights, movie nights and a headphone disco. There will also be academic programming ... - Devyn Kelly, Laurier 201 coordinator
“They’re going to get the experience that they should have gotten last year, just a year later,” she said “The biggest thing that students are going to take from this program is the connection to the physical campus and the connection to each other because they’re going to have a ton of opportunities to meet other students who are in their program, or at least in [their] second year because they’re all really in the same boat right now.” Second-year students can register on the website or check their @ mylaurier emails for a Laurier 201 email from last week.
