Laurier Black Students Association

Good afternoon! This Spotlight Tuesday, we’re showcasing 3 black owned businesses: Perception, a Toronto based clothing line, Temporium Beauty Bar, a Nail tech in Mississauga and Mademoiselle Palace a makeup artist. Scroll to see some of their work!

February marks the beginning of Black History Month: ABS' favourite month! Join us in celebrating black history as we highlight black people, culture and more on Mondays through Wednesdays and Fridays with themed post.

Happy Black History Month All! 👊🏿💙 Stay tuned, we have many events planned for the month and onward!

PAINT NIGHT/COFFEE HOUSE November 22nd 2019

On the day of International Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we are incredibly disheartened by the current state of our campus. Under the pretense of freedom of speech, the administration allowed for far-right, white supremacist Faith Goldy to speak on our campus. The Laurier Society of Open Inquiry as a part of their “Unpopular Opinion” series invited Faith Goldy to speak about ethnocide and the decline of the white population. Even though the event was disrupted organizers have stated they will continue with the series and work towards bringing her back.

The Canadian Charter has limits on free speech, and any dialogue that goes beyond these limits should not have been allowed on our campus. Laurier prides itself on being an inclusive and equitable environment. By giving Faith Goldy a platform, the university is helping to normalize and embolden her ideologies. The administration failed to take into account how her presence has created safety concerns for racialized students by helping to create a space for white supremacist on our campus. This has created a very hostile environment not conducive to learning. There was no regard for our personal safety in the approval of this event, and the administration has failed its students.

Wilfrid Laurier University is allowing Faith Goldy to speak on campus under the banner of Freedom of Expression. Faith Goldy is a known white supremacist and neo-nazi who is scheduled to speak about “ethnocide” and the declining white population in Canada. This blatant racism and white supremacy have no place on our campus and yet, Laurier is not doing anything to stop this event. These are the effects of unrestricted, uncritical safeguarding of “freedom of speech”.

For the past five months, we have been saying that Freedom of Expression is being employed to cover over far-right ideology. We have been warning the administration about the implications of their position on Freedom of Expression, which they have very clearly articulated in advance of the Task Force’s decision (see link: http://bit.ly/2plSRNR). Their position has opened the doors for the likes of Goldy and other far-right personalities to spread their doctrines of hate within our community. We are genuinely beginning to wonder: is this what Laurier stands for?

We all need to engage in a much more critical conversation about freedom of expression than the one this institution is currently having. At what point do we have an obligation to not allow for baseless racism and white supremacy to exist within our institution? At what point will we recognize the legitimate harm this university is facilitating, in their fear of taking a stronger stance on free speech? At what point will we finally be brave, speak out, take a stand?

Individuals in the Laurier community have organized a solidarity rally, celebrating the continued resistance of marginalized communities throughout this violence. We encourage you to attend!

Open Letter to Deborah MacLatchy, President and Vice Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University Dear Ms. MacLatchy, As the president and Vice Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, you must be aware of the guest lecture by Faith Goldy at the Waterloo campus. The guest lecture is being organized by Laurier Society for Open Inquiry. We ask that you, along with the senior leadership at WLU put...