On Oct. 5, McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office held their first annual Community Engagement Day (CED). The event featured approximately 20 different activities in which students had the opportunity to engage with Montreal community organizations, participate in volunteer activities around the city, and become involved in discussions on different social issues and challenges in Montreal.
“[The idea] was really to provide an opportunity to celebrate the different community engagement initiatives that exist on campus and in the city, in the effort to foster a culture of engagement at McGill,” CED Project Coordinator Max Halparin said.
One of the many events offered by CED was SPEAK UP! Bursting the bubble: Ways to breach the university-community divide, a discussion-based event that focused on the importance of ties between McGill and the surrounding city. Located on Lower Field, the event consisted of a moderated discussion led by McGill graduate student David Gray-Donald and Associate Professor for the School of Social Work Jill Hanley.
Students and faculty of McGill, residents of Montreal, and members of neighbouring universities attended the discussion, which kicked off with the topic of barriers within the Montreal community.
“If we were to map out the group of friends and the people I was interacting with, it would be very much centered around this university,” Gray-Donald said. “And it’s not hard for that to happen.”
Other examples of divisions that came up in the discussion included the ones between students living in and out of residence, and those between individual faculties. Ross Koby, U1 arts also discussed the way students at McGill are separated from the greater Montreal community by language and location.
“Maybe they feel a little isolated from other universities,” Koby said. “I think a lot of people from McGill, unless they’re living in a student community like the Plateau … might not meet other people from other [universities].”
The conversation progressed from discussing barriers to brainstorming methods useful in overcoming them.
“Just showing respect for [another] language opens the door in an important way […] If you have that approach when you go outside, it changes everything,” said one participant. “I find people appreciate it.”
Other CED activities included CKUT radio workshops, the Moccasin Walk, and Afternoon Tea with the South Asian Women’s Community Centre.
Many students expressed their satisfaction with the event this year.
“I would love to do this next year,” Eryn Fitzgerald, a student at Concordia University, said.
“As the first annual event of its series, there is quite an amount of space for change, as well,” Halparin said. “For next year, [we’d achieve a] more collaborative selection process, with input from the community. I’d get more projects, as well […] my goal is to make it bigger and better.”
