The latest health and safety measures mean first-year orientation has had to shift to online delivery.
Welcome Week took on a very new look this year by going virtual. COVID-19 restrictions and McMaster University’s decision to have an online fall term pushed Welcome Week programming and supports to new platforms. From Archway to live and recorded events during Welcome Week, campus organizations have adapted in-person orientation supports to provide incoming first-year students with opportunities to meet other students, learn campus resources and gain university academic skills.
Archway
The Archway program was developed by McMaster Residence Life staff to provide every incoming first-year with a community of 40 other students, an archway mentor and an archway coach. Archway provides each incoming first-year student with proactive guidance, personalized support and a community based on interests. The students meet one-on-one with their mentor and their community once a month and engage with Archway-wide programming throughout the summer and school year.
“[T]he focus is always on the first years . . . [and] to help students in the long run to make sure they are supported throughout this online environment as much as possible,” said Kyle Faiczak, the residence orientation planner for Residence Life.
“[T]he focus is always on the first years . . . [and] to help students in the long run to make sure they are supported throughout this online environment as much as possible,” said Kyle Faiczak, the residence orientation planner for Residence Life.
The coaches are full-time McMaster staff and the mentors are McMaster undergraduate students. These roles are designed to provide first-year students with one-on-one support, provide resources and referrals to appropriate offices and to foster relationships in the broader McMaster community.
Jonathan Zaslavsky, a fourth-year integrated science student and archway mentor, was initially hired as a residence orientation advisor. With the transition to online orientation programming, he helped create activities and events for Archway. Prior to Welcome Week, he and the other mentors met with their first-year students to encourage them to engage with the programming. Archway’s presence during Welcome Week was limited to avoid overwhelming students. Some mentors were present at the McMaster welcome event as familiar faces who helped connect first-years with faculty representatives. Zaslavsky said that his role during Welcome Week was to support the students through a one-on-one capacity.
Faiczak has been working to develop content for what he’s calling the McMaster experience by taking typical first-year activities that would take place in-person and redesigning them for a virtual environment. Activities like taking photos at Edwards arch might be recreated as an Instagram filter. Apart from that, he’s worked to support the mentors and will continue to develop programming and adjust priorities as needed by the students.
Welcome Week
The Student Success Centre and faculty representatives both designed and ran programming for the virtual Welcome Week. Events involved the strategic themes of responsible substance use, sexual violence prevention, response, support, mental health and well-being. Students filled out RSVP forms to receive the necessary links to each event, available through a central Welcome Week website with a schedule of over 200 events. Among the roster of activities were inter-faculty trivia, academic success workshops, international student orientation and a celebration of Black, Indigenous and other students of colour.
The Welcome Week schedule offered a mix of live, on-your-own and multiple session events. Live programming included SSC workshops and faculty socials, while MSU Campus Events hosted solo trivia. Some events were hosted at multiple times to accommodate larger groups and create a more intimate atmosphere, as well as to accommodate different time zones. Both the live and on-your-own events included closed captions. Events were scheduled throughout the day, starting as early as 8 a.m. and last events beginning at 8 p.m. Madeleine Raad, the Welcome Week faculty coordinator stated that both the earliest and latest time slots were the most popular. International students had to take into consideration the time difference when participating in synchronous events.
Students also have the option to watch recordings from many of the academic and student life events that took place during Welcome Week, providing another avenue for participation. Raad said that though participation has been a bit lower this year than the typical in-person welcome week, there were still a lot of engaged and enthusiastic first years. By Sept. 3, there were over 25,000 RSVP forms with 8,000 incoming first-years. Though not every student participated, there were still many students who wanted to be involved in virtual welcome week.
When reached for an interview about the MSU’s involvement with the changes to Welcome Week, MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré and VP Administration Graeme Noble declined a phone interview.
If we have the ability to hold more accessible events, what’s stopping us from doing that?
This year, McMaster University’s Welcome Week was held entirely online due to the physical distancing restrictions in place for COVID-19. As a result, many events took place through platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Discord, Zoom and Twitch.
Events were held in two different ways. There were synchronous events, or events that took place during an allotted time with live representatives, that ranged from as early as 8 a.m. to as late as 8 p.m. On the other hand, some events were asynchronous and a long period of time was provided for first-years interested in participating and had no live component to the event. For example, the McMaster Students Union website scavenger hunt, which could have been completed any time during Welcome Week, required students to search through the MSU website to complete tasks. However, asynchronous events seemed to be few and far between, when we should be aiming to hold more events that don’t impose specific timing restrictions in order to increase accessibility for Mac students.
There are many issues with synchronous events. The first issue arises with the fact that the Welcome Week schedule is in eastern daylight time, which automatically puts international students at a loss. During an in-person Welcome Week, many international students are already disadvantaged, as events largely cater to English-speaking students. In addition, domestic and in-province students often know a few students going into McMaster, whether it is a family member, high school classmate or friend, which can ease the transition into university. On the other hand, international students may rely on orientations such as Welcome Week to make friends.
Since many events take place during EDT daytime hours, students who have large time zone differences may find it hard to attend events as many events will occur during the night for them. In addition, some platforms used for synchronous events are Twitch and Discord, which are blocked in China. This adds an extra barrier for students who want to attend events but are living outside of Canada. McMaster has provided the option for students in China to use a free express virtual private network to access McMaster’s online learning resources, but it’s unclear whether this will include extracurricular activities that are not related to academics.
It is important to note that many of the synchronous events were held multiple times throughout Welcome Week. For example, the faculty of social sciences held an event titled “Let’s Chat About It” which was held at four different times on Sept. 7. In addition, some Welcome Week events were recorded, which gives students who could not attend access to information they may have missed. While these are good considerations and we should continue to provide multiple options for students, we need to continue to strengthen these accommodations by making them completely asynchronous. Although recorded events are great, they do not provide students with an option to interact and engage with the event other than watching or listening to a video.
Although recorded events are great, they do not provide students with an option to interact and engage with the event other than watching or listening to a video.
Another issue with synchronous events is that many of these events are held either very early in the morning or during normal work hours, which prevents many students from attending. While past Welcome Weeks events also occurred at these times, it is now likely that more students are working part-time or full-time to make up for the financial strain that COVID-19 has had on everyone. Early morning events, on the other hand, can be difficult for students to attend as COVID-19 has had an impact on many people’s ability to have a consistent sleep schedule.
What we do know is that we have the capacity to run asynchronous events. The MSU website scavenger hunt proves that we can successfully hold asynchronous events. Making asynchronous events that are interactive and informative makes the event more accessible for students who may not be able to attend events at specific times due to a difference in time zone, a day job or because they’re dealing with sleeping problems.
Making asynchronous events that are interactive and informative makes the event more accessible for students who may not be able to attend events at specific times due to a difference in time zone, a day job or because they’re dealing with sleeping problems.
Asynchronous timing of events is something that we should consider continuing for events taking place throughout the school year. As we continue to physically distance and cope with an ongoing pandemic, many students are facing additional challenges that may not have come up during a normal school year.
Some people may argue that asynchronous events are harder to plan — and while that may be true, we shouldn’t avoid planning more accessible events just because they’re more difficult to hold. If Welcome Week is supposed to help first-years build community with their peers, we shouldn’t be leaving certain groups out of Welcome Week just because it’s more convenient.
September 2019 marked the first of possibly many registration periods in which students could opt-out of student union fees deemed non-essential. This change, instituted by the Government of Ontario in January 2019, is part of the widely criticised Student Choice Initiative. In the past, McMaster’s student union fees for all clubs and services have been mandatory. Non-essential fees range from a few dollars, like the $1 fee for Mac Farmstands or $2 for Horizons, to $13.72 for CFMU 93.3FM or $17.50 for Campus Events. As early as January, student groups have feared the worst and prepared for the inevitable cuts.
Nearly two months after the SCI was introduced, the impact on students and the MSU isn’t entirely clear. Despite other universities having already released comprehensive opt-out rates to their university’s student unions, McMaster’s registrar’s office still hasn’t released final numbers. According to Alex Johnston, the MSU’s vice-president (finance), an official breakdown won’t be released until registration is finalized. The final registration numbers have yet to be disclosed by the university.
As a result of the Student Choice Initiative, many aspects of what the MSU offers to students will become financially optional between September. 12-20. The MSU encourages students to #ChooseStudentLife. Learn more about how your money is spent at: https://t.co/GdcabjjSMF. pic.twitter.com/EOvrhnB3bY
— McMaster Students Union (MSU) (@MSU_McMaster) September 10, 2019
What we do know is that students opted out of services at a rate of roughly 32 per cent of across non-essential fees. These fees include services such as campus events, Shinerama and Mac Farmstand. How this 32 per cent rate translates into absolute dollar losses for the MSU is unclear, and Johnston says it’s difficult to speculate. Throughout the opt-out period, Johnston states that the MSU prioritized transparency. For example, the MSU created a “Choose Student Life” page to encourage undergraduate students to learn about the MSU services and fee breakdown before opting out.
“We did communicate that this could lead to the potential for a pay-for-service model or a reduction of overall services or just reduction in service operations. So those are things we did communicate. Where we actually end up going right now, again I think it’s a little too soon to tell,” said Johnston.
Despite the MSU’s focus on transparency, some felt that the MSU could have done more.
Ed, a part-time manager of a student service deemed non-essential that asked not to be identified, said that they were displeased with the MSU’s communication leading up to and throughout the SCI implementation.
“Communication has been fraught. Everytime I would bring it up I would receive a ‘we don’t know for sure yet’. And then no follow ups,” said Ed.
Daniel, another PTM who asked not to be identified, felt that work they had previously done to improve their service’s finances hadn’t been taken into consideration. They felt that the MSU should have encourage more discussion about SCI leading before the opt-out period.
“I knew for the majority of my role finances are important … which is why I made a lot of changes … I don’t want to say they weren’t willing to have that conversation really early, but I kind of wish we had that conversation early,” said Daniel.
As for faculty societies, whose fees were also deemed non-essential, the SCI’s impact is unclear.
Madeleine Raad, the McMaster social sciences society president, said that the society is being careful about spending, although the alumni society has stepped up to fill their funding gaps.
“From my understanding, the social sciences opt-out was not as high per say maybe other faculties I might have heard of. However our fee is one of the lower fees, our fee is $16,” said Raad.
Although it may be too soon to see the long term impact of the SCI, changes are already being made to non-essential services.
To prepare for the possibility of high opt-out rates, all MSU services were asked by the executive board to make pre-emptive cuts to their operating budgets for the 2019-2020 school year
“[We] cut back on things most companies cut back on which is promotions … The last thing you want to cut back on are salaries and wages and actual staffing positions,” said Sandeep Bhandari, the campus radio station’s administrative director.
In the Oct. 20, 2019 SRA meeting, Johnston gave a report on audited statements from the MSU’s 2018-2019 fiscal year. While optimistic, the numbers reflected deficits across the MSU. Johnson mentioned that the Underground, the Silhouette, and 1280 bar and grill all had large deficits and outlined plans for improving finances going forward. Johnston also said that the MSU is soliciting proposals from an external consultant to assist with financial changes the MSU will need to make going forward as the SCI becomes an annual affair.
“If we continue the way we’re going, we’re going to deplete our operating funds in two years. So that’s obviously not sustainable so we need to make some changes going forward,” said Johnston.
Johnston also reported that the MSU’s executive board, comprised of full-time staff and SRA members, had also made decisions that impact part-time services. The Executive Board has decided to push back the hiring of PTMs for Macycle and Farmstand into 2020, although they are traditionally hired in the fall. Johnston said this decision was made to buy the MSU more time to figure out a financial plan going forward. While this is a temporary push-back, there are still worries that the PTMs will be expected to participate in the hiring process after their terms without pay or be cut out of the important process it entirely.
“This is a discussion that happened in close session … but we did decide to delay the hiring for Farmstand and Macycle. Typically those part time managers are hired … but due to the fact that we don’t have final opt-in numbers yet we did decide to delay their hiring so we could re-evaluate then move onwards,” said Johnston.
The executive board also made the decision to pause all operations for the Creating Leadership Amongst Youth conference for the 2020 year. Typically CLAY happens in May, but this year will be the exception.
“We did decide to put a hold on operations for CLAY 2020 just because we couldn’t delay the hiring and then have the part-time manager start later because the conference just couldn’t function,” said Johnston.
Johnston says these decisions are a part of the MSU’s efforts to develop a strategy to make the union more sustainable going forward. The long term impacts of the SCI are unclear, but the MSU is doing what it can to adapt, including expanding The Grind in an attempt to alleviate 1280’s running deficit and hiring a full complement of staff for the Underground so it can operate at full capacity.
A big concern for most non-essential service employees was job security.
James Tennant, CFMU program director, and Bhandari stressed the importance of student radio, especially for student staff who can’t get these unique experiential learning opportunities elsewhere.
“We do have a very small staff compared to some other services on campus. But it’s definitely a concern, and it’s the last thing we would want to do … Because they’re valuable to us and the experience they get in the positions is valuable to the students,” said Tennant.
Bhandari said, “It’s been said for many years it’s giving a voice to those who don’t otherwise have access to the airways. And that is the nature of campus community radio across the country.”
Daniel also reflected on the SCI. He expressed dismay that his efforts to improve his service’s financials weren’t headed leading up to the SCI implementation, despite clearly outlining ways the service could improve financially going forward in the wake of the SCI.
Ed wished that there had been a bigger push over the months leading up to the opt-out period, not just during it.
“SCI’s really bad but the MSU’s attitude of not talking about it makes everything worse,” said Ed.
Ed also had hoped for solidarity amongst all MSU services, not just advocacy from the ones impacted. He felt like nearly enough people weren’t talking about it.
Indeed, when Sandy Shaw, MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, visited campus in February 2019 to talk about the provincial policies impacting students, the MSU gave her a tour of the PCC, Maccess and WGEN—three services deemed essential and therefore not at risk of being impacted by the SCI.
Despite criticism of the SCI’s rollout and MSU advocacy efforts, many PTMs are are just worried for the future of their services.
Daniel said, “Thats been the biggest impact of SCI: emotionally. The worry for the future of the service.”
Ed said, “If my service doesn’t run its going to affect the people who volunteer for me and it’s going to affect all those people who use my service regularly.”
“I’m sad because I don’t want my service to die,” said Ed.
With the SCI mandated for the next two years, with possibility for renewal, the long-term implications could be dire. Without a clear path forward, part-time student staff, volunteers and services users are left to worry for what is to come. MSU advocacy may have mitigated what could have been worse opt-out numbers, but future efforts will be essential to keep services afloat.
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By Marzan Hamid, Contributor
McMaster University’s Welcome Week is loud and full of spirit — and rightfully so. It is the one week of the year where students are allowed to be shamelessly rowdy and proud of the school they go to. It is a time for first years to make McMaster and its community their home.
However, in order to truly make Mac a home for everyone, the week needs to be accessible to a wider range of personalities. It needs to welcome both those who love the noise, and those who don’t.
McMaster is a diverse university in many ways. As its students, we have many different mother tongues, we coexist in different faiths and we study different passions. Students at Mac come from all points of the personality spectrum, too. However, these differences don’t seem to be taken into consideration.
Welcome Week events are synonymous to heaven for extroverts. Loud crowds during faculty fusion? Hell yeah. Meeting 300 new people in a day and introducing the same three details over and over again? Nothing better. Raving to Bryce Vine in a mosh pit? Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
On the flip side, introverts find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. For people who want some downtime away from the large crowds where they cannot find much more than a few superficial connections, Welcome Week can be emotionally draining. While faculty and residence reps can be a huge resource for this exhaustion, it is undeniable that a disproportionate number of Welcome Week events cater to extroverted students, leaving their introverted counterparts feeling forced into situations they would much rather avoid.
The few low-key events that do exist are not as well promoted or organized. Things like painting or hikes can get crowded easily and limit the intimacy of connections that can be formed. Not to mention, introverted out-of-province and international students can easily feel isolated if they don’t already have friends on campus.
Small group activities are especially hard to come by in larger faculties where organization becomes difficult — however, we must remember who and what the week is for: for embracing new Marauders. Despite the challenges we may encounter when making students feel at home, it should be emphasized that there is truly something available for everyone to try. Whether that is through small group activities running alongside the bigger events (which are promoted just as much), or having designated areas on campus for downtime activities, we need to make strides to make this nervous time of year easier for everyone.
Many students are on their own for the first time in their life; this comes with its own set of problems and anxieties. Welcome Week shouldn’t have to be another. It should be a week as enjoyable for the social butterflies as it is for the wallflowers.
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In April 2017, construction for McMaster University’s Peter George Centre for Living and Learning began. Situated directly beside the Ron Joyce Stadium, PGCLL is projected to be a complete 14-storey, 335 000 square foot building by Nov. 4, 2019.
Holly Gibson, manager of marketing and communications for McMaster’s Housing & Conference Services, revealed that that the rationale for building PGCLL was based on demand for student housing and wellness services, a movement towards active learning at McMaster and a commitment to replace the daycare that was removed when Wilson Hall was built.
Meeting minutes from a McMaster Faculty Association meeting on Apr. 23, 2019 reveal that the new McMaster Children’s Centre was set to open in PGCLL by Aug. 7, 2019. In addition to the daycare, other non-residence areas of PGCLL such as the active learning classrooms and Student Wellness Centre still remain under active construction.
Currently, McMaster has six other active learning spaces in L.R. Wilson Hall. PGCLL will introduce a seventh, larger and more refined active learning space to McMaster’s campus. As Gibson said, “Whereas most active learning classrooms accommodate 30-90 people, the PGCLL active learning classroom was created in consultation with designers, architects and campus stakeholders to be one of the largest active learning spaces in North America (according to FlexSpace.org) with a capacity of 405 participants.”
The purpose of an active learning classroom can be defined as a way to teach content through group-based learning. Gibson stated that instructors who utilize the spaces effectively tend to focus less on lecturing and more on facilitating active engagement amongst students. The technology of these rooms is built around fostering collaboration. For example, instructors can control whether a student’s work is displayed within their group or to the whole class. Self-directed problem solving through case studies are just one example of how professors can use active learning classrooms. The active learning format is being successfully implemented across many faculties at McMaster.
Gibson believes that not only will PGCLL be valuable for student education, but that the size and scale of PGCLL will provide a central “hub” for student life on campus.
“In PGCLL, we expect to see up to 2,200 students going to/from class every hour or an hour and a half; this represents 18 per cent of the total classroom space on campus,” said Gibson. “In addition, the Student Wellness Centre handles over 50 000 student appointments a year and our on-site student residence will be home to 518 students during the academic year.
CLL double room with a connected shared washroom. In the image, it is set up for conference guests who were welcomed during summer months to ensure maximum utilization of the space.
The 518 students will be distributed between four different residence room types. All students in these rooms also incur a $40 residence life fee per year.
During Welcome Week, students were moved into PGCLL while it was still undergoing construction. Classes which were scheduled to take place in PGCLL have been relocated due to the fact that the building is incomplete. With over two months left until the projected completion date, it is unclear whether changes will need to be made to ensure the safety and comfort of students living in PGCLL.
This will likely not be the last renovation project on McMaster’s campus. Potential future prospects include a Main Street West residence, a grad residence downtown, and a Bates redevelopment project. In addition, the Student Activity Building is projected to be ready for summer 2020.
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Every Welcome Week, McMaster reps across faculties and residences partake in Shinerama, a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Shinerama is an incredibly successful fundraising campaign as McMaster fundraises over $100,000 every Welcome Week. Altogether, over 40 Canadian colleges and universities fundraise money for Shinerama annually, collectively fundraising approximately $500 thousand every year. However, it may be time to question our fundraising efforts—where exactly is our money going, and why are we doing it?
While Shinerama can bring students together to promote working towards a good cause, it can also alienate first years of a low socioeconomic status. Being asked for money constantly, especially during a week where many first years are acclimatizing to a new environment can be daunting.
Being asked for money can make students uncomfortable, especially when university tuition and housing is a huge financial burden for many. First years may not have money to spare but being constantly asked and reminded to donate can make people feel obliged to contribute money. As a result, many first years often feel uncomfortable going up to reps who are shining, as they’ll feel the need to give money they don’t have.
One way to tackle the issue of soliciting first years for donations is to solely run a fundraising campaign during the summer or during the school year. Welcome Week often is a place where first years feel very vulnerable due to such a new environment and asking students for money who may not be financially stable can put them in an uncomfortable position. This issue has been ongoing, but with the OSAP cuts this year, this problem may have been especially prevalent this past Welcome Week. Simply changing the time of our annual fundraising campaign so that it is no longer during Welcome Week can help alleviate this problem so that first years don’t feel obliged to donate when they have tuition fees to cover as well.
Another issue that has been raised is Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s efficacy as a charitable organization. In 2017, around 30 per cent or approximately $4 million of total funding for Cystic Fibrosis Canada went towards administrative costs or fundraising fees. Although McMaster raises over $100,000 for Shinerama each year, that does not even cover overhead fees. Cystic fibrosis is a good cause to raise money for, but it is also important to critically analyze how much money actually goes towards funding research.
Cystic fibrosis is a common genetic disease in Canada which is one of the reasons why fundraising efforts are so large. However, it is important to note that Cystic Fibrosis Canada states that Caucasians make up 93 per cent of diagnoses in Canada. While Caucasians are not limited to only white people, the Caucasian population in Canada is mainly white. According to Genetics Home Reference, the disease has been found to be most prevalent in White Americans (around 1 in 2,500 to 3,500) compared to African Americans (1 in 17,000) and Asian Americans (1 in 31,000).
As most people affected by cystic fibrosis are white, many students feel unrepresented by our fundraising efforts. As McMaster likes to promote the fact that their students are diverse, they should consider contributing to diseases or causes that affect a diverse population, not a mainly white population.
Evidently, Shinerama has a lot of room for improvement. As McMaster raises a large amount of money each year, it is important to critically analyze where our money is going. So what are some other options?
One solution to this problem could be rotating charities every year. Many local grassroots organizations such as sexual assault centre (Hamilton) are in dire need of funding and $100,000 could really benefit their programming and resources. SACHA currently only has six full-time staff, one part-time staff and the rest of the organization runs solely on volunteers. As a result, SACHA is often flooded with requests for sexual violence support. If McMaster chose to raise money for SACHA even for only one year, it would provide a huge support to an organization that provides crucial programming and training on sexual violence and bystander intervention.
By raising money for local grassroots organizations, McMaster students could also improve relationships with the Hamilton community, which is one thing that many people really enjoy about Shinerama fundraising during the summer.
Fundraising efforts done by McMaster students can have incredibly positive effects on our community if we do it correctly. Moving forward, we should critically analyze when we fundraise and who we are fundraising for so that our efforts can be allocated more effectively.
A previously published version of this article stated that there was only one part-time staff working at SACHA. It has since been corrected to state that SACHA has six full-time staff and one-part time staff.
A previously published version of this article stated that almost 60 Canadian universities fundraise for Shinerama, collectively raising approximately $1 million every year. It has since been corrected to state that over 40 Canadian colleges and universities fundraise, collectively raising approximately $500 million annually.
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Two long weeks after The Silhouette released an article regarding the gaps within the McMaster Students Union sexual violence disclosure processes, MSU President Ikram Farah finally released a statement.
The statement, which reads as a rambling pat on the back, condemns sexual violence and commits to a systematic review of the Maroons and the MSU as a whole, something that two Maroons representatives brought forward when they suggested a full audit of the service back in September 2018.
In the fall, a regularly scheduled service audit was conducted in which Maroons representatives made it known that an additional reporting tool would be useful. They also noted that the MSU’s workplace policy on harassment, discrimination and sexual violence should be more survivor-centric.
In response, the MSU vice president (Administration), Kristina Epifano, developed an online reporting tool and reportedly consulted with volunteers, staff and experts to update the workplace policy. But once released, it was discovered that this online reporting tool was not nearly as thorough or inclusive as the Maroons representatives had hoped.
Additionally, there is no evidence that the board of directors made any effort to lay the groundwork for investigation of sexual assault within the Maroons.
These Maroons representatives spent six months advocating for a full service review of the Maroons that focused on sexual assault. It was only when they made a public report to The Silhouette that the MSU president pledged to begin investigating sexual assault within the service.
Farah’s statement comes two weeks too late and six months after the fact that the two Maroons representatives reported the culture of sexual assault within the Maroons to Epifano.
The fact is that over the course of the two weeks following release of our article, the Maroons were actively hiring new representatives and ignoring the calls to action from the McMaster community.
Though Farah stated that Maroons events will be suspended for the time being while the review is underway, it is unclear whether the Maroons will be involved in Welcome Week this fall.
There’s a lot to say about the statement. We could mention that within the statement, Farah makes a note that she personally has not found any “actual reports” of sexual violence within the Maroons team this year. While she does acknowledge that the lack of reporting does not mean that harassment or assault hasn’t occurred, this tangent is absolutely unnecessary and self-praising.
What’s more is Farah’s claim that the MSU’s “practices and disclosure protocols are exemplary of the sector.”
What does exemplary mean if the practices and disclosure policies have not been consistent, thorough nor inclusive before these past few months? In what way is taking two weeks to release a statement regarding the matter exemplary?
Within the MSU, the lines between personal and professional are constantly blurred. Given that the MSU has consistently protected individuals accused of sexual assault, it is no surprise that survivors may not feel comfortable disclosing their sexual assault.
Whether the perpetrator was a member of the Student Representative Assembly or a presidential candidate, the MSU has continuously failed to support survivors.
This is indicative of a larger issue within the MSU: there is no independent human resources department to respond to complaints and initiate reviews.
Maroons representatives spent six months advocating for change, and it took two weeks and dozens of community members, volunteers and MSU employees taking to social media to demand a response from the Maroons coordinator and have the MSU commit to a full service review.
In order to properly address sexual assault at a systemic level, the MSU needs to overhaul its sexual assault policy and oversight process.
The MSU has proven time and time again that it is poorly equipped to properly respond to sexual assault allegations. It is left entirely up to the board of directors to ensure that policies are upheld, but they are not trained or qualified to respond to issues of this magnitude.
The MSU needs an independent HR department to consistently and proactively address concerns so that students do not have to turn to public disclosure in order to initiate a review process.
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By Kian Yousefi Kousha
All through summer, I was thinking about my transition to McMaster University. I thought about meeting people, finding friends, learning lessons and getting advice. Welcome Week painted all of my thoughts with a colour of reality. It started with hearing customized chants in the move-in day and it ended with jumping up and down at Majid Jordan’s concert.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFRDdOhTS7/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Between the start and the end, there was lots of middle, which were filled with valuable lessons. With that said, Welcome Week would not be alive without its empathetic, energetic and earnest representatives who were the authors of those valuable lessons. For instance, most of them highlighted the significance of getting involved with the McMaster community. On the other hand, I was told that being a student should always be my first priority during my time at university. In addition, the sessions held by the Student Success Centre taught me that asking for help does not signify weakness. Moreover, it was mentioned that students ought to use all the resources available so that they can get the most out of their time at McMaster University.
To name a few, I was introduced to the Student Wellness Centre and the Student Health Education Centre, which their main purpose is to become an oasis for students during any physical or mental illnesses.
Some outdoor yoga for the last weeks of summer! 🧘♀️🧘♂️ https://t.co/ZvLzKYYBMd
— Student Wellness (@McMasterSWC) September 4, 2018
Equally important, I believe that Welcome Week was the most successful in helping students like me to feel less homesick. As an only child, I could never imagine that I would feel welcome in any other place except my own home. Nevertheless, Welcome Week taught me and all of its participants that home is not a place. It is a feeling that stems from love, friendship and respect. This happened through a myriad of icebreaker events such as Mac connector and Faculty Fusion, which created a sense of belonging between the first years as they felt a part of the 2022 family.
After all, classes have started and all first years have officially become a Marauder. The events of Welcome Week have most certainly prepared students for their first year and eased their transition from their high school or home country to McMaster University. Now it is the time for the students to utilize their learned lessons as a means to success so that we all can proudly say: one, we are from Mac, two, a little bit louder, three, I still can’t hear you, four more more more.
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Our Digital Media Specialist Aaron de Jesus sat down with Sean Leon prior to his Welcome Week performance to talk about his experiences, founding the @ixxi.co and the rapper’s approach towards his music.
https://www.facebook.com/TheMcMasterSilhouette/videos/479064049255367/
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If you are on campus at all during Welcome Week, you might notice a wave of Welcome Week representatives out and about with flamingo patches on their suits. These patches symbolize the new Pride Representative Network at work, a pet project of Miranda Clayton, the McMaster Students Union Pride Community Centre coordinator.
“This year, when I took over the [PCC], we did this whole thing where we rebranded it, we completely overhauled it and how we conceptualize our LGBT community on campus,” she said.
If a representative has a flamingo patch on their suit, it means that they are knowledgeable about all the services and supports available to McMaster students. These representatives also serve as ambassadors for the PCC during Welcome Week, as they can offer information to any first-year students who may be interested in learning more.
According to Clayton, the LGBT community at McMaster has felt fractured for many years, partly due to the focus on cisgender, gay men in typically LGBT spaces.
“I started at Mac in 2011, and I've been a bisexual on this campus for about 8 years now… When I got here, and I knew the QSCC existed, but I didn't feel like it was a place I could go, because it was very much presented itself as a place if you are gay and only gay, which I'm not,” she said.
“I wasn't in that straight/gay binary that people seem to think exists, so I was like, "I guess this isn't a place I can go,” Clayton added. She also pointed to results from her survey, which illustrated that many students on campus felt they were not welcome at the PCC, whether they were trans, non binary, bisexual or lesbians.
“We are truly for everyone under the LGBT spectrum,” Clayton said.
As a part of her initial assessment of the service, Clayton sent out a community assessment survey for LGBT students to complete, and found that many LGBT students were either unfamiliar or unaware of the PCC’s existence.
Another issue plaguing the service, according to Clayton, is simply its location; unlike other MSU peer support spaces on campus, the PCC’s main space is in a part of the McMaster Student University Centre that does not receive a large amount of foot traffic.
Clayton hopes that the Pride Rep Network will alleviate some of that confusion by offering students information about LGBT spaces on campus the second they enter campus grounds.
At the time of writing, there are currently 192 representatives signed up to be a part of the Pride Rep Network, and Clayton only expects that number to grow as more representatives are given the chance to sign up. Both the PCC and other faculty societies will post about the initiative during Welcome Week to ensure students are aware of what the flamingo patches mean.
For another representative, supporting LGBT students comes at a crucial time, as they will be a social science representative and is one of the reps a part of the Pride Rep Network.
“When [the MSSS Welcome Week planner] reached out to us about this experience, that's when I researched roughly some of the communities, I looked up Miranda, and saw some of the movement and the story she was telling and I thought that was very compelling and I thought it was an important initiative that needs to be on campus,” they said.
As the summer winds down and campus is flooded once again, LGBT students attending McMaster can take solace in the flamingos that will quietly attending classes with them.
