While it wasn’t as loud as your average protest, a silent protest at Queen’s University on Monday wasn’t any less important.
“We’ve been holding a silent protest just as people are coming into the faculty of arts and science town hall,” said master’s student Megan Zelle. “We’re trying to raise awareness and amplify our voices about these cuts and the conversations we’ve been excluded from.”
Students, like Benjamin Madden, lined the entrance to Monday’s town hall to express their disappointment at the recent announcement of cuts across the university and what they describe as a lack of communication.
“It felt like a betrayal them not being forthright. It’s just disrespectful to every student that comes to Queen’s,” Madden said.
The potential removal of smaller classes was another point of contention, with some students worried classes they originally planned to take might not be available for much longer.
The university declined an interview but said in an emailed statement that it is “facing a serious financial situation, with our operating costs currently outpacing our revenues.”
“We are doing all we can to protect our core academic mission of research and teaching, and to minimize any impacts on students, faculty and staff,” it said.
But Zelle says they want more than just explanations, they want to be included in the discussion.
“I like to think that a university is a university because of the students so to exclude the students from even the possibility of having these conversations, it was really upsetting.”
And those feelings have led to some students debating whether or not this is the school for them. The students say they’re remaining hopeful that the university can come to a solution that’s beneficial to all.