Nikayda Harris and Fariba Al-Hassan are two second-year public affairs and policy management (PAPM) students who are making waves by speaking out against the lack of representation at Carleton University.
About one month ago, Harris and Al-Hassan launched a petition, in which they demanded short and long-term changes within the PAPM department. These changes include curriculum reform, representation for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) students, staff and faculty and implementing more financial and social resources for racialized students.
“PAPM produces Canada’s future politicians, bureaucrats, and public servants. Yet with all this in mind, the program lacks in many areas pertaining to the experiences of BIPOC Canadians,” reads the petition.
Accompanying the petition was a letter issued to Lisa Mills, PAPM program director and associate professor, who the students previously spoke to regarding institutional racism and equity issues within the program.
“In PAPM, racialized students experience both institutional and individual racism. The PAPM program does not do enough to address this issue,” reads the letter. “Far too many students have cited the lack of diversity in scholarly perspectives and the sole recognition of Eurocentric narratives as a pervasive problem that must be addressed.”
Revamping resources
According to Mills, the upcoming curriculum review set to take place in the 2020-21 academic year will be a main focal point of change. A curriculum review occurs every seven years at Carleton to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the program and make appropriate changes, according to a letter from the vice-provost.
“In terms of making [the curriculum] more sensitive to the issues around racialization, racial discrimination, racism in public policy, this will be a great opportunity to do that,” Mills said.
The curriculum review board includes at least one external reviewer from a separate academic institution, faculty members from various departments, two student representatives and instructors from PAPM 1000, 2000 and 3000.
“We would want the panel to be as diverse as possible, but partly it depends on who is available,” Mills said.
Harris, Al-Hassan and Mills also brought the petition to the Arthur Kroeger College Educational Student’s Society (AKCESS) to make sure action happens.
According to Harris, it was important to partner with AKCESS because it has the institutional power to legitimize their initiative.
“We’re hoping to all be future policymakers, movers and shakers, and learning how to do that starts now,” President of AKCESS Meghan Burns said.
Burns said she hopes to create a model for other student societies by implementing the petition’s changes and seeking equity from all angles.
AKCESS has had an equity officer for two years who ensures all student voices are heard. Entering the position in April 2020, Ariana Coleman’s work will include making sure videos have captions, student spaces are accessible, and recognizing this racial reckoning to drive change.
ACKESS provides students with resources, such as sexual violence support, gender and sexuality resources and resources for Indigenous students. However, there are currently no specific financial or social programs for Black students or other students of colour. Coleman said she hopes to implement more resources for BIPOC students this year.
“Everyone is really back pedalling. We’re trying to fix things that should have been fixed years ago,” Coleman said. “It’s so good that we’re finally doing it, but there’s no excuse for what happened in the past.”
Discrimination and racism
Pablo Mhanna-Sandoval, a third-year PAPM student, said there is a need for a petition of this nature “to see if [the program] is truly meeting our expectations and our needs as a student body or if it’s been left untouched just because that is the way that it’s always been done.”
Mhanna-Sandoval reflected on the biggest instance of discrimination he has faced. In 2018, right before he started studying at Carleton, another student commented on his Instagram boasting about white power, using racial slurs and comparing a photo of Mhanna-Sandoval and his mother in front of Parliament to Michael Zehaf-Bibeau—a gunman who stormed Parliament in 2014.
Mhanna-Sandoval said he reported the instance to Carleton’s Student Experience Office (SEO), but since he was technically not a student yet, the office said it could not do anything. The student is still studying at Carleton.
In an email to the Charlatan, the SEO said it would support students.
“In the case of ‘race-based hate’ the student would be directed to [Carleton’s Equity and Inclusive Communities],” Andrew Mendes, SEO director of Student Care & Support, wrote.
“People don’t do this for fun. People don’t start petitions and movements just for kicks,” Mhanna-Sandoval said. “This [issue] materializing into a serious movement and effort by these students is reflective of a need to have this conversation within the program.”
Harris and Al-Hassan are also no strangers to discrimination and exclusion at Carleton.
According to Al-Hassan, one of her friends dropped out of the PAPM program because he felt unrepresented, unwelcomed, and struggled with imposter syndrome.
Harris also highlighted fundamental problems with the curriculum, such as studying John Locke’s theories about property and its connection to slavery.
Both Al-Hassan and Harris said the lack of BIPOC perspectives in academia contributes to the larger issue of underrepresentation of minority groups in society.
“It’s important that we read from a variety of perspectives,” Harris said. “We should be including other perspectives as well, to grow and broaden our horizons.”
“We can’t be skimming over the traumas and experiences that BIPOC people face in Canada or else we as a nation cannot move forward,” Harris added.
Banding together
Although marginalized communities continue to face discrimination at Carleton, change is already blooming. One of the first Carleton programs that heard a call to diversify and empower BIPOC students was the university’s journalism program, which has since committed to implementing more representation into the program.
Amidst recent calls to action a month ago, the Black Students in Public Affairs Association (BSPA) was launched with Undergraduate Governor (Board of Governors), Nathaniel Black, as vice-president administration.
The association aims to educate BIPOC students about policy and public affairs, so they can learn how to cultivate change at Carleton, within Canada and internationally. The BSPA hopes to set up networking events, a mentorship program and monthly discussions about different policy topics for members.
BIPOC students will learn they have power and can spark change without relying on others to guide them, Harris said.
“We don’t have enough Black authorship, Black representation in the curriculum or Black representation in different faculty associations, so from that perspective, we really do need an outlet that’s exclusively aimed for Black students,” Black said.
Among other criteria, Black said he is looking for representation at Carleton for Black students and for specific changes to be made in the administration. For example, he would like for race-based hate to be treated as seriously as graffiti, where students could face fines and exclusion from community facilities or services.
Currently, if someone uttered a racist slur on campus (a category one offence under the Student Rights and Responsibilities Policy) they would most likely participate in a mediation session. Property damage over $500, such as graffiti, is a category two offence according to the policy, and may result in a variety of sanctions. These include exclusion from university facilities or services, and community service orders.
“If someone painted something on the side of the Tory building, [they] would go to the Student Affairs Office and most likely pay a fine,” Black said.
The BSPA is primarily trying to meet the needs of BIPOC students, but it is open to everyone. Black said he wants readers to know that change for BIPOC students does not come as a cost to others.
“We contribute millions of dollars [to Carleton],” he said. “We’re simply asking for a return on our investment.”
Harris echoed a similar message, saying that the demographics of PAPM do not represent Canadian society.
“We need to be doing better in terms of recruitment as well as retention, and making students feel like they have a space that they’re comfortable in and that they have a community that they’re really a part of and can contribute to in meaningful ways,” Harris said.
Listening, reading, educating yourself, recognizing your privileges, having an open mind, genuinely wanting to understand the struggles of the BIPOC community and being comfortable with being uncomfortable are ways to be an ally, Al-Hassan said.
Once you get comfortable with these things, then you can start signing petitions and joining clubs, she said.
“Something needs to change and if it has to change at the undergraduate level, we’re going to do that because it starts in the bottom and then we can work our way up to make fundamental change,” Al-Hassan added.
Featured image by Ashley Igboanugo.
