Page 20 - E-magazine ENG19

RAISE is a new student-run

service launched this term.
RAISE suggests that UW
RAISE addresses racism improves its counselling services,
and xenophobia in our representation of the black

campus and community. community in sta members and
increases the number courses
related to the black community.

Road to internationalization

Fiqir Worku, the Vice President of RAISE, met with the University of
Waterloo's (UW) former equity director to discuss ways in which the school could
better cater to the needs of black students. She was informed that before any
discussions could be had, the association needed to collect any related statistics
by themselves and to evaluate these needs. Unlike some universities that provide
funding to support visible minority student groups, UW provided RAISE only $75
per term; it was impossible to conduct a campus-wide study with this sum.
Although the group was unable to fully carry out the study, they learned about
the experiences that black students have with police, sta and UW community.
This suggested that the university was not particularly interested in discussing
matters about the needs of racialized groups in its student body. Thus, it is
evident that although the university is well on its way to becoming very
internationalized, it still has a long way to go.