Ontario universities have started their winter 2021 semesters under a province-wide stay at home order. But while this is not the first semester impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown measures are complicating an already difficult situation for students.
Recommendations include singing Okanagan Charter, creating physical mental health and wellness centre on campus and creating a research cluster.
“While the university does not care about our safety, we cannot risk the safety of those here,” said Jamal Koulmiye-Boyce.
The sit-in to demand a meeting with president Jacques Frémont has now lasted over 65 hours inside of Tabaret Hall as of the publication of this article.
“We absolutely condemn racism, harassment, racial slurs and discrimination,” stated Jacques Frémont, the University of Ottawa’s president in front of the U of O Senate.
In light of the recent controversy surrounding the use of the ‘N-word’ by a professor in a lecture. Babacar Faye, the University of Ottawa Students’ Union president, has written a letter to the editor of the Fulcrum where he calls on the University of Ottawa to take action and take the necessary steps to rid the campus of racism and make it inclusive for everyone.
There was tension in the air on Monday as the University of Ottawa’s Board of Governors met to discuss the recent events at the University. Topics included the PSUO-SSUO new collective agreement negotiations, racism on campus with new alleged incidents this past weekend, and the approval of a new 2020-21 budget.
University of Ottawa president Jacques Frémont has released a second statement to the U of O community asking for “calm and reflection” around the recent controversy surrounding a professor’s use of the ‘N-word.’
The University of Ottawa’s president and vice-chancellor Jacques Frémont responded early this morning to the recent incident of a professor uttering the ‘N-word’ in an online lecture. The professor had been suspended since early October, and a group of professors had written a letter denouncing her treatment at the hands of the U of O administration.
“How do we make progress from here at the University of Ottawa? If by terming it as a good crisis, Jacques Frémont is going to make transformational changes in the U of O landscape, I am all behind him, but if it is going to be talk, PR, and no action, then his legacy will be harshly judged by all generations,” writes Rony Fosting an international student at the University of Ottawa.
