Tamara Khandaker
Staff Writer
As the memories of Frosh Week 2011 fade away, groups of students participating in a campus walking tour have the chance to learn about the “unofficial” side of York.
DisOrientation 2011, a week-long series of events organized by the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) and their allied organizations, attempts to introduce students to the political history of York. The event, which serves as an alternative to traditional orientation, centres around issues of social and environmental justice.
The Radical Walking Tour, the first event, took students on a walk through campus, focusing on places of political significance at York.
“We start off by looking at the governing structure and how York is managed,” says tour guide Imran Kaderdina. York’s mission statement “speaks of having a community that values freedom, social justice, and accessible education, but those are not always upheld by the university through its actions.”
Kaderdina also explains where many of York’s building names came from.
“The buildings are often named the way they are because of donations, which come with strings [attached] that many students don’t know about,” he says.
Participants ranged from students to faculty to community members.
“It’s a pretty diverse group,” says Aruna Boodram, volunteer and programming coordinator at OPIRG York. “I’d say it’s for people who want to learn more about the issues happening around their community and around the world.”
Viola Huang immersed herself in DisOrientation activities all week—including the walking tour and a screening of Slingshot Hip Hop, a film presented by the Toronto Palestine Film Festival—and hopes other students will show more interest in politics.
“I can understand this indifference to a certain degree when I think of all the busy schedules students have here,” says Huang. “I think it is pivotal for students themselves to get engaged in politics, to know what’s going on, and to educate themselves.”
Kaderdina also believes it is important for students to be engaged in campus politics.
“I think it’s impossible for students to stay politically neutral,” says Kaderdina. “If the students aren’t engaging with the university, they are essentially supporting the status quo.”
DisOrientation events—which include workshops, film screenings, and a free concert—are being held every day until October 1.
Forthcoming are a workshop on the decriminalization of sex work, a discussion on Canadian immigration, and a workshop on alternative media.
