Solidarity & Advocacy News
November 8th Message to OCSU Members
Hello members! We wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who participated in our Student Solidarity activities this past week. With your help, we gathered just under 800 student signatures calling on the College to do better when it comes to students. Your Students’ Union coordinated between Kelowna, Penticton, and Salmon Arm campuses to ask our institution to put students first and asked you to lend your support.
Note of Acknowledgement, Appreciation, and Support from OC Counselling
The Counselling Services department would like to formally acknowledge the ongoing challenges that OCSU continues to face as well as the hard work and advocacy you tirelessly do on behalf of your members. On the Kelowna campus, members of our department had the privilege of attending the November 2nd Student Solidarity Walk Out, to support and stand with OCSU in challenging OC leadership to address the important concerns that you raised. Though our department has a specific campus role in supporting students, our sense is that you have identified both pragmatic and systemic concerns which negatively impact students’ personal and academic success and wellbeing.
Letter of Support from OC Faculty Association
The Okanagan College Faculty Association supports our students in every way that we can, and even though faculty roles are diverse, we all know that our students are the heart of Okanagan College. Because of this, faculty hone and develop their teaching and support skills with student needs in mind. Today, the students protest, and their actions and concerns are front and center as they speak their needs. Faculty are here in their support, as always.
OC Leadership Council Speech
We are here today on behalf of our members from the Kelowna, Penticton and Salmon Arm campuses to present to you the needs and concerns of our peers, your students at OC. As elected representatives, we feel that our members are the heartbeat of our institution and our goal today is to shed light on the topics that we know can make direct changes and have positive impacts for our peers. Without students there is no OC, and if we can all agree on that, then we should be able to work together to address the needs of students.
Student Letter to Okanagan College Leadership
he OCSU is asking its members to join us in a Student Solidarity Walk Out on November 2nd at 10:30am because Okanagan College is leaving students out of conversations and decisions; because Okanagan College has abandoned its historic student-centered values; and because Okanagan College has had a steep decline of quality, and student centered, delivery of services.