"How many lives ?"...
How many lives did it cost to build such institution, on stolen land ?
How many lives did it cost to build such institution, "the best University of Canada" ?
How many lives did it cost to build such institution, that was never meant for us ?
The University of Toronto has always attempted to ignore and cover up the mental health crisis on their campuses, which is fundamental to their operation and values. In 2018, the University of Toronto passed the Mandated Leave of Absence, allowing themselves as an institution to determine students' wellness to continue their studies and involvement on campus, putting them on leave (which in certain cases, would revoke an international student's VISA status). They ware forced to revise such policy after violating the Ontario Human Rights Code. The policy passed however, is a raw evidence that the University of Toronto is not interested in caring for students' health and wellness. The policy is a sign of cowardice and cruelty, willing to strip away students' (whom some often have sacrificed so much for being here) rights and access to education as well as on-campus services. The University would rather put students in need on leave, then help them towards recovery...
In 2019, U of T St. George students protest after a third reported suicide.
In 2019, I visited U of T Mississauga and found out that their campus mental health coverage only allowed UTM students to have up to 5 counselling sessions, as if mental illness is gone in 1, 2, 3, 4... 5.
In 2019, I don't have a doctor with the knowledge of trans communities and their medical transitional needs and accommodations to start hormones at U of T Scarborough.
In 2019, students are restless and numb... barely surviving.
Yet how many more lives... does it cost to maintain such institution ?
White Faculties and Staffs, making money from a sea of colour...
The University of Toronto is not the best University of Canada, it's the best business disguised as education, with a violently colonial system. Paying white cisgender men to rule, paying white women to teach reconciliation, paying cis women to teach LGBTQ+ studies... Don't say you care about Indigenous rights, teachings, and values but then invest in companies that supports Israel, contributing to the occupation of Palestine. It's time for the University to divest from the three companies: Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard, and Lockheed Martin, "to end its involvement in socially injurious activities and violations of international law" (U of T Divest, 2014).
Even when I was honoured enough to be representing the University to present my research studies in Portugal back in 2018. The cost was supposed to be covered but not due to a number that defines my academic standing as mediocre yet I was travelling internationally teaching and representing this so-called "the best University of Canada" ? Clearly, U of T doesn't care about the students contributions unless it's a number, especially those tuition numbers. U of T as an institution, does not care. U of T is all about business, thus 2 things: profit and press.
I am here, in pursuit of an education as a marginalized person. I supposed an institution of "higher learning" would have learnt to make education as accessible as possible, but I'm wrong, and they're obviously wrong but doesn't care. Because the University of Toronto can not be the people's house unless it is upheld by people who are truly invested in the students' needs and interests.
Students are not just numbers producing numbers, students are our present as well as future. It's time to rise up, It's time to take back this institution, to take back our campuses, our education, our rights and freedoms... our future.
