Part of the Community

I’ve recently been described as having “forgotten what it means to be part of the community,” because of some tweets about Mulroney Hall. To clear things up I want to tell you what it means to me to a member of this community.

To frame this discussion, it’s important to differentiate between StFX, and X. StFX is the institution; it is the structures and decisions put in place by administrators to run this organization. X is the community; it is the body of students that live together, learn together, and become friends during their time at this university.

Being a member of this community means holding the institution accountable and rejecting the decisions that hurt us. Students have a proud history of action. We have rallied against sexualized violence, we’ve marched for racial equality, we’ve fought for our rights in response to the waiver. This is the essence of X. We come together en masse when we need each other, and we aren’t afraid to question authority. When we act, we are capable of making change to this institution.

StFX on the other hand, puts up a veneer of caring. The performative emails and social media posts that exclaim commitments to equality and promises to change amount to nothing. Instead of funding increased supports for the most vulnerable members of our community, we build shrines to alumni. Instead of adequately funding student advisors, we rename a lounge and raise a flag. As students, we know that we have a choice to either fight or accept. Often, we accept, knowing that we’re unlikely to succeed.

To me, being a member of the community means the time I was invited to participate in a Smith House Colloquium on Free Speech. It means that when the senior admin were gathered in that living room trying to justify the idea of bringing Donald Trump to campus because “it would be huge for us,” I had to either speak up or maintain my relationship with the most powerful people at the university.

To me, being a member of the StFX community means the time when I sat in my office listening to a student cry for two hours because they had been made homeless by a residence suspension.

To me, being a member of the StFX community means when the university welcomes police to campus with open arms in the middle of the largest protests against police violence in history.

To me, being a member of the StFX community means the daily promises to change, and the daily failures to follow through.

StFX is not a community.

Being part of the X community means the time my neighbors in MSB all chipped in to buy care packages for each other during exams.

Being part of the X community means the creation of the Peer Support Program, solving a problem the university had failed to address.

Being part of the X community means the time that students organized the largest protest march in Antigonish history in support of Black Lives Matter.

Being part of the X community means the commitment to each other, and our willingness to change.

X is a community.

So, to the people who think I’ve rejected the StFX community, you’re right. I reject your Mulroney worship, your lies, and your failure to act. If you want us back in the fold, take a note from the students. Follow through on your promises, start treating us as partners in education, and listen when we tell you what’s wrong.

I go to StFX, but I belong to X.