A student group at the University of Waterloo (U of W) is speaking up against the lack of racial diversity in the newly elected student government.
RAISE (Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity, and Equity) a new student-run service under the Federation of Students also spoke out.
“The issues that racial minorities on Waterloo’s campus exist both at a personal/individual level (which is what most people think of when they think of racism) as well as the systemic level, which can be more substantial and insidious in nature,” the group said in a written statement.
They said they didn’t want to only speak out against the results but “wanted to make an observation of the election results.
“All elected members are white, voted in from a very diverse and qualified pool of candidates,” the statement said. “We absolutely acknowledge and respect the qualifications and legitimacy of the elected candidates. However, RAISE wants to start a conversation about the systemic barriers that exist within every institution that limit students of colour from participating in high-level decision-making positions.”
Amanda FitzPatrick, the newly elected vice-president (student life) of the Federation of Students U of W, ran alongside three racialized students, none of whom were elected. The elected executives are all visibly white, with FitzPatrick being the only woman on the executive board.
Simran Parmar, a Sikh student who ran with FitzPatrick on a slate called “Team Gold,” said it’s “disappointing.”
He said considering the support they received on campus and the “hype” around their team, he thought they were all going to win.
FitzPatrick said the team received 30 complaints within three weeks against them for violating election bylaws, most of which she says were unfounded. Instead, FitzPatrick said her team was busy responding to an average of two to seven complaints a day instead of preparing for student questions in debates.
“They were just sent in to waste our time and attack our character,” she said.
FitzPatrick said people took any chances to put a racialized student’s qualifications into question.
Parmar, who served on a hospital board since he was 17, said he stumbled upon a Facebook post that compared his governance experience versus the candidate running against him and considered his experience irrelevant because it wasn’t within the campus setting.
Also, he said a person approached their booth during the campaigning period and told their slate members that they’d vote for Parmar and Josh (another slate member) “because they’re men.”
“I was shocked because I didn’t think in 2019 something like that would exist,” he said. “And I have no doubts that there were probably people that were like ‘don’t vote for the brown guy.’”
“I don’t doubt that that’s something that was happening in the background,” he added.
Parmar said it’s important to have a diverse group of students in the student government because it gives other racialized students motivation as well that they can run.
“When we were running, there were students that were international students—especially Indian international students. They were coming up to me, and they were like ‘I’ve been here for an x amount of years and I would never have expected to see a guy who looks like you on a poster,’” he said.
FitzPatrick also said it’s important to have representation because it is reflected in policy writing.
“If you’re not highlighting the most marginalized, they’re going to be completely left out,” she said. “And although you might have good intent, if you don’t know half of what different marginalized identities experience . . . you won’t be able to write that into your policy.”
“If you have a group of white men writing sexual violence policies, people’s experiences are inherently going to be left out,” FitzPatrick said.
RAISE said that “there are a plethora of challenges which put racialized students at risk in an academic institution, so it is vital that we express our concerns regarding this issue of representation. We must continue to advocate for diversity to ensure all students of colour have access to equal opportunities.”
